Only Time Can Heal Your Wounds
by Meg616
Summary: Basically a story I wrote off the top of my head. Breanna comes face to face with her old love, a certain blue eyed sergeant. Please read and review. FINAL CHAPTER IS UP!
1. Face to Face again

Okay, this is my very first story. It's set after the fourth book of Protector of the Small. I don't know how good of a story this is.

(A/N - I know some of this stuff may not fit with the story, but thats because I haven't read the books in awile and I can't find my copies of the books either. I wrote this off the top of my head. I apologize for any confusion.)

Disclaimer - I own NONE of this, it rightfully belongs to Tamora Pierce. All that is mine is Lady Breanna and the plot

With that said...on with the story...

"Lady Breanna, you must get up. Stop lazing about." Scolded the young woman's maid, Marlene.

"I'm up, Marlene." Breanna scowled as the maid flung open the curtains, exposing her sensitive eyes to the blindingly bright sun.

"Good, now bathe and I will help you dress. No breeches today, my lady. Your parents are forbidding it." Marlene said, snapping the sheets as Breanna stood and made her way to the privy. She opened her mouth to protest the 'no breeches' rule. "We have company today, my lady. We can't have them seeing you as a ruffian." Breanna growled her displeasure and stomped into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. For a nineteen year-old, she could be immature at times. After bathing, she got out and dried off, slipping on her undergown. Her reflection in the mirror caught her attention, her blacks curls hung defeated around her shoulders and her bright grey/blue eyes poked out from under slim eyebrows. Full, pouting lips and a delicate nose complete her face. Her curves and looks had most menfawning after her, but she didn't care. She was still recuperating from the first man.

"Marlene, have I mentioned how much I despise gowns?" Breanna asked as she left the bathroom and slipped the baby blue overgown on.

"Many times my lady, you even hated them as a child." Marlene said with a laugh, remembering the girl when she was younger. "But there is something that will make it better."

"What is that?" Breanna asked, allowing the maid to tie up the back of the dress; she sat and pulled on a pair of riding boots.

"Your uncle is back. Just got in, still in the courtyard." No sooner had Marlene finished her sentence, had Breanna stood up and ran from the room, cursing the gown that slowed her down. She reached the courtyard in record time.

"Uncle Raoul!" She shouted, seeing the big knight first and foremost; she ran towards him and Raoul caught his niece in a hug. Brea was the only child left of Raoul's older brother and she had grown up around him, so they were unusually close.

"I knew it would only be a matter of minutes before you greeted me." He said, replacing his niece on firm ground and stepping back, looking her over. "Your mother and Marlene forced you into another gown I see."

"Unfortunately, using the guest excuse and something about me looking like a ruffian." Brea said with a shrug, just then noticing the men that bustled around her brother wore the colors of blue and silver; colors of the King's Own. "It's not like it matters."

"It does so, my men count as company, even if they are ruffians themselves." Raoul was purposely shifting his weight from foot to foot, blocking a certain someone from his niece's view with his broad shoulders.

"Whatever you say, dear uncle." Brea caught on to Raoul's moments and raised an eyebrow, hands on her hips. "What exactly are you doing?" She demanded, trying to glance past her uncle, but was quickly blocked.

"No...nothing." Raoul said, catching his niece around the waist and putting her in front of him, which was easy, considering how small she was.

"Uncle Raoul." Brea whined, now more curious than angry; when Raoul was least expecting it, she dodged past him and came face to face with Domitan of Masbolle, who proceeded to drop what he was carrying, on his foot.

"Ow. He...hello, Brea..anna." Dom stuttered, ignoring the throbbing pain in his foot as he stared at the girl he had once fawned over. She had grown a lot in two years.

"Domitan. How, er, lovely it is to see you." Brea lied, tears pricking her eyes as she stared at Dom. Raoul silently cursed himself, he should've known better than to allow Brea to see Dom, he also should've done something to lure his niece away from him. She could've gone the entire week without knowing he was there. Marlene came to the rescue as the awkward silence lengthened.

"Lady Brea, your mother wishes to seeyou in her chambers." Marlene said, patting Raoul on the shoulder and pulling lightly on the woman's arm to lead her away. Once Brea was inside with Marlene, she slumped against a wall and started to cry, images ofDom andBrea'syear together flashing through her mind.

Flashback

"Breanna! Slow down! Raoul and your father will have my head if you get hurt." Dom shouted, galloping off after the young girl. He was twenty years old and new addition to the King's Own and wanted to make a good impression on Raoul, he didn't know he would look after his wild and rambunctious sixteen year-old niece.

"I'll be fine Domitan! Leave me be!" Brea shouted, trying to out-gallop the man. She finally reached a clearing in the forest and dismounted in one fluid moment, wasting no time. Brea began running towards a small pond that wasn't to far off from where she dismounted. Dom ran up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Get your hands off me!" Brea shouted; the struggling continued, Dom trying to get a grip on Brea, and she was trying to get away from him. It finally ended when they fell, Dom landing on top of Brea. "Look what you've done now." She snapped, hoping Dom wasn't staring directly at her, although it might prove difficult, since their faces were very close.

"Have you been crying?" He asked quietly, noticing tear streaks on her face.

"It's none of your business." Brea said, narrowing her eyes; she found it nearly impossible to raise her hands, as Dom was laying on her.

"Raoul told me about your brother. I'mvery sorry." Dom said, not realizing that he might be crushing Brea.

"Sorry won't bring him back." She said, a tear slipping down her cheek; Dom resisted the urge to wipe it away. He hated to see woman cry."Can you get off of me, please?"

"Right, sorry." Dom mumbled and rolled off of her, sitting up. Brea sat up as well, wiping at her face.

"Why were you chasing me?" The sudden fight in Brea had dissipated and she sat sullenly on the forest floor.

"Your uncles orders. He said to keep an eye on you, that you were a feisty one. Didn't think I would be getting such a work-out." Dom joked, glancing at her with his cobalt blue eyes.

"The other men probably didn't warn you because they wanted to see if you would survive your first day." Brea said, smiling at him. For being nearly four years older than her, he was quite handsome, she couldn't deny that aspect.

"So, did I survive?" He asked, looking her over, from her dirtied and well used riding boots, to her grey/blue eyes and curly black hair; she was a beauty.

"I would say you did a pretty good job, Domitan." She responded and watched him stand and offer a hand to her. She took it and he pulled her to her feet.

"It's just Dom, Lady Breanna." He said, leading the way back to their horses.

"Then just call me Brea, you'll find that most of the King's Own does." She told him with a smile as they mounted their horses and started back.

End Flashback

"Breanna? Are you alright, dear?" Questioned Lady Rhiannon, putting a hand on top of her daughters.

"I'm fine mother, just tired." Brea put a hand to her face to add to effect; Raoul glanced at his niece, they hadn't spoken since earlier in the courtyard. "May I be excused?" She asked, glancing past her uncle, and to her father.

"Yes, but before you leave, Raoul has something to tell you." Lord Anthony said, gesturing to his brother.

"Brea, I would like you to come back to Corus with me. Queen Thayet would like you to be a Queen's Rider." Raoul said, sipping from his goblet.

"I will consider it, now excuse me, I'm going to rest." Brea said and stood up from the table, throwing her napkin on her untouched food and stalking out of the dining room.

**A WEEK LATER**

Brea stood in the courtyard, watching her uncle and the King's Own load up her stuff, arms crossed over her chest. Her mother and father stood beside her, talking about who knows what. For the first time in months, she was dressed in a more feminine version of what men usually wore. Raoul let his men finish loading up and made his way to his brother and sister-in-law.

"Were all ready to go, just waiting for Brea." He said, kissing Rhiannon on the cheek.

"We will be seeing you at Midwinter." Anthony said, embracing his brother.

"Good-bye mother, father." Brea said, hugging her parents, before following Raoul to the train of horses. She wasn't quite sure if it was on purpose or not, but he managed to lead her right past Dom.

"Hope you don't mind a little bit of mud. It's rained quite a bit." Raoul joked as Brea mounted her horse.

"You haven't been gone that long, my dear uncle. My mother hasn't quite managed to turn me into a court lady yet." She said and the train of horses started out of the courtyard. As the first day of riding neared an end, there was no hotel in sight, so they set up camp and spent the night, only to be awakened by a storm and once more riding at about three in the morning.

**SIX DAYS LATER**

The trip from Goldenlake to Corus, usually only took three days, if weather permitted, but because of the rain, it took them six days to maneuver their horses through mud. As they passed through the lower part of Corus, rain pouring down on them, people peeked out from under protection, watching the parade of men go by on horses. Thecastle loomed in sight, and pretty soon, they were under protection of the King's Own stables.

"Brea, if you'll go with this servant, he'll lead you to your rooms and i'll have some of my men bring your stuff." Raoul told his niece, who wanted nothing more than to bathe and change into dry clothes. Brea sighed and followed the servant, who handed her a few keys and pointed to a door. She thanked him and went inside, thanking whoever had prepared the room, as they had left water for a bath. Before getting in, she glanced at her reflection and started laughing. Mud caked her hair, turning the black brown and mud stuck to her face and dirtied her clothes. No wonder the servant was eager to get away from her, she must've looked hideous. Pulling off her muddy clothes, she shut the door to her privy and slipped into the bath.

"Brea! We've got your stuff!" Called a voice from outside her door.

"Come in, but no further than the door, or so help me I will come after you!" She shouted back and heard the men laugh as they entered her room and deposited the stuff on the floor, before leaving. They knew better than to test the girls temper; she could be a hellion if provoked. After the water had turned brown from the mud and Brea was positive she was clean, she stepped from the bath and dried herself off, cursing the men as they had placed the bags by the door. "Damn them all." She muttered and made her way. She had finished dressing, when a knock came on her door. Brea stood and looked at the servant that had showed her to her room.

"Lady Breanna, her majesty Queen Thayet requests your presence." He said, bowing his head slightly..

"Lead the way." Brea said, hating the 'lady' title she was cursed with and locked up her room. The servant nodded and led her down many twisting hallways, to a door.

"Your majesty, Lady Breanna of Goldenlake is here." The servant announced and they both bowed.

"Thank you Charles, you are dismissed." The servant bowed himself out of the room, and shut the door, leaving Brea alone in the room with the queen. "Please, Lady Brea, have a seat."

"Thank you, your majesty, but please just call me Brea. Lady makes me feel like my mother." She said, taking a seat in a chair.

"Well then, you may call me Thayet. In this room, no formalities are required." She said and shifted her gowns slightly, staring out the rainy window. "I'm sure Raoul has told you why I've asked you to come to Corus."

"He did indeed." Brea said with a nod of her head.

"I remember seeing you ride and fight with the squires the last time you were here. Did Raoul train you?" Thayet questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes he did, so did my brother Caiden and my father, when he was feeling up to it." She told the queen, brushing strands of hair from her face.

"I've never seen someone have such a knack for fighting." The queen commented. "Honestly, your as good as any of our knights."

"Thank you, Thayet." Brea said, blushing at the compliments and bowed her head. Thayet grinned and cleared her throat with a cough.

"I'm hoping you will join the Queen's Riders. Gods know we could use someone like you among us."

"Of course, I'm up for anything that can get my hands dirty."

"Good, your horses with be moved to our stables and we expect you on the fields with us tomorrow at dawn." Brea nodded and took her leave, bowing herself out of the room. With a satisfied smile, she started back to her room, collapsing on the bed and drifting into a deep, dreamless sleep. Her door stood wide-open, welcoming any and all intruders.

Domitan of Masbolle strolled the halls of the castle in deep thought. Ever since his encounter with Brea at Goldenlake, he couldn't stop thinking about her. She was still in her teens for gods sakes, whereas he was nearing twenty-five, although the four year age difference hadn't made much of a difference before. Had it really been two years? It seemed much longer than that since he had shattered her heart and trust. To lost in his thoughts, he passed right past Brea's open door and backed up, peering inside. He stared at her face, which was illuminated by moonlight and covered with a few strands of black hair. Kneeling beside her bed, Dom used a gentle hand to brush the strands of hair from Brea's face.

"If only you knew how truly sorry am I for what I did to you." He whispered and stood up, pulling off Brea's boots and stockings, before lifting her gently and placing her under the blanket. Before he left the room, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead and then shut the door. He hoped no one had seen him, who knew the world of trouble he could get in.

**FLASHBACK**

"Dom, have you seen Brea?" Raoul asked, glancing around for his niece.

"Uh, she's probably in the stables, sir." Dom replied, glancing around; thinking about it, he hadn't seen Brea all day, except for when he thought about her, which was a good portion of the day.

"Can you find her please? I need to speak with her." He said and Dom nodded, starting, not for the stables but the forest, where he knew she was.

"Brea!" He called, following the trail to the pond in the middle of the forest. "Brea!"

"I'm here!" She called back, sitting on the edge of the pond, her feet dangling in the water. Dom sighed, walking over to her and sitting down beside her. "Figured it would be a matter of time before you would show up." Brea wiped at her face, hiding tears.

"Well, that's me, always on your tail." Dom joked, then noticed what she was doing. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She lied, staring into the water.

"People don't just cry for 'nothing.' Tell me." He commanded, staring her down with his cobalt blue eyes

"I'm homesick and I have practically no friends here. And to top it all off, the only person I could ever talk to, just died." She said and wiped at a few more tears on her cheeks. Dom hated to see woman cry. No matter how old they were. It wasone of his many weaknesses.He broke down and hugged her, rubbing her back soothingly, while Brea cried into the front of his shirt.

"You have me, not sure how good of a friend I can be, but you have me." Dom told her and saw a small smile worm it's way across her face. "And about Caiden, I'm terribly sorry. I know that gets kind of old, but I know what it's like to lose a family member." He said; he had been there when Brea's brother had been killed, it was a sad sight to watch the young man die, knowing he had no chance of survival. "So don't cry, your far to beautiful for it." The words slipped from his mouth before he could stop them.

"Thank you, Dom." Brea said, blushing slightly.

"I meant that in strictly a friend to friend way." He said, trying to cover up what he said, but knew Brea had seen through it when she grinned. "I'm going to get it for this." He muttered.

"What? Dom, I don-" Her sentence was cut short by Dom leaning down and pressing his lips gently against hers.

**END FLASHBACK**

The following morning, Brea woke well before dawn and found herself safely tucked into bed, boots and stockings removed. Yet, she remembered falling asleep immediately after her visit with Thayet, fully dressed. Thinking it was just Raoul, she pushed all other thoughts to the back of her mind and stood, dressing in more suitable clothes for the day ahead.

Well, what did you think? Please review!


	2. The Wounds

**A/N - I took this one down so I could fix it...and then chapters three and four followed...don't ask. As I was re-reading it, my perfectionist side came in and something was bugging me...soo...end of that story...**

-----

Brea's days at the castle fell into habit; she awoke each morning before dawn, had breakfast (which she rarely had time for), practiced with the Queen's Riders, who gave her quite the work-out. She would then have lunch with Raoul, then practice with the pages and squires, who were dead set on besting a Goldenlake, but had yet to do it. Then dinner with her knight friends and off to bed with her, with little time in between for herself. That was how her days went, and she was very happy, except for the rare times when she would catch Dom staring at her or vice versa. Brea had been at the castle for about two months and one afternoon found her sitting in her rooms after lunch, reading a letter from her mother.

"Brea?" Raoul knocked on her wide open door and poked his head in. "Honestly, my dear, you must stop leaving your door open." He stepped in the rest of the way and sat in a chair beside her desk, where she was sitting.

"I close when I'm not here, when I'm sleeping or in there." She said simply, gesturing to the privy door while she finished reading the letter. Raoul sighed and shook his head, wondering if Brea would ever learn to shut her door.

"Letter from your mother?" He asked, nodding to the letter she was folding and shoving into a desk drawer.

"Yes, she says Marlene is working on Midwinter gowns for me, even though it's a good four months away." Brea said with a smile and shook her head.

"You know how Rhiannon is. Those gowns will be done and fitted to you in two more weeks." He said with a smile and Brea nodded her agreement.

"Something else you needed?"

"The older squires are afraid they scared away their only real competition. Besides the teachers, no one else out there can knock them on their rumps and damage their egos as well as you, my dear." Raoul said laughing at the way Brea's cheeks turned a bright red color.

"What can I say? I had a good teacher." She said, nudging Raoul's foot with hers.

"Aw stop it, your making me blush." He said, pretending to be a court lady and bat his eyelashes. Brea rolled with laughter. "Come now, let's get out to the fields." He said and the two of them stood, making there way to the practice fields, Brea left Raoul and made her way to where a group of older squires were fighting.

"Told you we didn't scare her away!" Said a young man by the name of Jordon. "Afternoon Lady Brea."

"Afternoon." She responded with a smile and turned on one of the boys, she was pretty sure this ones name was Nathaniel. "Ready?" She asked with a grin and he nodded. Brea wasn't a hundred percent sure how long they had been fighting, and she still wasn't sure how she wound up on her back, but it happened. She had dodged a kick aimed at her and with a cry of pain, Brea landed on the ground, with a pounding head and throbbing ankle.

"Lady Brea! I'm sorry." Nathaniel muttered, biting his bottom lip as the other squires gathered around them. Dom saw the commotion and rushed over, as Raoul was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened?" Dom asked, pushing the squires backwards to give Brea room to breathe.

"She was fine while we were fighting and all of a sudden, she just kinda fell." Nathaniel explained, hoping he hadn't done anything or he would most likely face the wrath of Raoul. Kind he may be to them, but he wouldn't be to thrilled to learn that one of them had harmed his niece.

"Brea, can you sit up?" Dom asked, kneeling beside her.

"Ugh...get away from me, I'm fine." Brea snapped, sitting up and ignoring the pounding in her head.

"I'm trying to help you, you could be seriously injured." He said and stood up, staring down at her.

"I told you, I'm fine." And to prove it, Brea struggled to her feet; only to have her ankle give seconds later and she collapsed in Dom's arms.

"Yeah, your excellent." Dom said sarcastically and picked her up in his arms.

"Damn it, Domitan, put me down." She demanded angrily as he walked her to the Healers.

"No, you're injured and despite how much you hate me, I'm not putting you down." He said stubbornly and continued to walk as Brea complained rather loudly. "Were almost there and stop yelling at me, I'm only trying to help you, Brea." He told her angrily and if it weren't for the fact that he cared to deeply for Brea, he might've put her down.

"Why do you care so much? Most guys would've just left me there." She whispered, studying Dom's face.

"I care because I still love you." He replied and rendered Brea speechless; he left her with the healers and then slipped from the room, making his way out to the practice grounds. After reassuring the squires that no permanent damage had been done to her, he made his way back to the King's Own stables, where his horse still needed to be unsaddled and brushed down. After the night in Brea's room when he tucked her in, so to say, Dom managed to keep himself away from the girl, but couldn't keep from staring at her. He often cursed himself when she caught him looking at her.

"Dom?" Questioned Raoul, leaning against the stable door; he had just come from seeing Brea.

"Yes, Raoul?" He replied, pulling his eyes away from the wall and looking at the commander.

"Brea is going to be fine, her ankle is going to be somewhat swollen and she isn't allowed to do much for a week, but she's okay." Raoul told him, happy that Dom had gotten to his niece, or Brea would've continued fighting, pain and all. "Is there something else on your mind?"

"That's good, she fought me the whole way there." Dom said with a bit of smile. "No, why?"

"Because you've been brushing that horse in the same spot for about five minutes. I reckon he's annoyed now." Dom sighed and threw the brush down in the stable, finding it hard to focus on anything. "You've been out of whacks since we returned from Goldenlake. Tell me. Has my darling niece managed to captivate your attention again?"

"In a way, yes sir." Dom admitted with the nod of his head. Raoul sighed deeply, staring at his friend and sergeant.

"The first time this happened, I couldn't think of a better person for her. You helped her in so many ways. But you hurt her Dom, you hurt her deep and I know that your hurting from your mistake as well, I can see it in your eyes." Raoul sighed again; he hated speeches, especially giving them. "I could be the mean uncle and tell you to back off, but I won't. I still believe that things could work out for the both of you. And I will tell you the same thing I told her."

"What's that?" Dom questioned curiously.

"That only time can heal your wounds."

"How do you know when there healed?"

"Your heart will tell you. Just like Brea's heart will tell her when it's healed and ready for a second chance." Dom nodded and Raoul left him; he departed from the stables not to long after that and roamed the halls, mulling over what Raoul had told him.

**FLASHBACK**

"May I have this dance, my lady?" Dom asked, always the gentleman as he offered his hand to Brea.

"Of course you may, kind sir." She responded and slipped her hand in Dom's allowing him to lead her out to the floor. It was the first of many Midwinter balls and with Dom; Brea was starting to think they wouldn't be as bad as usual. "Have you informed Raoul about us?"

"Depends. Have you told your parents?" Neither one of them were sure how people would take it if they knew they were together, there was a four year age difference.

"Actually I have. They aren't thrilled about it, but aren't complaining either." Brea told him.

"Damn. I was hoping you would give me some more time." Dom accidentally squished one of her feet while they danced, as he suddenly became preoccupied with how he was going to inform his commander that him and Brea were seeing each other.

"Ow. That was my foot." She howled in pain.

"Sorry, my love, I honestly didn't mean to. You just made me nervous about having to tell Raoul." The song they were dancing to ended and Dom took Brea's hand, leading her from the ballroom.

"My foot still hurts. Slippers don't protect well against boots." Brea limped slightly as they walked, trying not to put to much weight on it. Dom sighed and they stopped walking; in one motion, he lifted Brea into his arms, carrying her like a groom would his bride.

"Better?" He asked, setting her gently down on the bench as they reached their destination.

"Much." She replied as Dom sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her.

"I will tell Raoul. I will tell him tomorrow if I must." Dom said, staring down at Brea. She was sixteen, but behaved like a woman much older than her years.

"Thank you, I just don't want him to found out and think I'm a slut or something of that sort." Many men were chasing after Brea, but Dom was the only one she gave the time of day to.

"Raoul would never think of you like that. He loves you far to much and talks very highly about you." Dom reassured her with a brief kiss on the lips. "You should hear him at times."

"I know that, I just don't want him to hear it straight from you, because court gossip will have me in bed with you and my uncle wouldn't be at all thrilled to hear that. True or not." Brea said, shivering slightly as the wind whistled past them.

"Cold?" Dom questioned, rubbing her arms.

"Yes, but I think a kiss might suffice." She said and Dom smiled leaning down and kissing her softly, but passionately on the lips.

**END FLASHBACK**

Brea sighed and rolled over in her bed, having laid awake for the past two hours. Her thoughts were twisted and jumbled and she couldn't focus on anything. With an aggravated sigh, she stood up and dressed, slipped her boots on, then left her room, ignoring the pain in her ankle. She had no idea where she was headed, anywhere but staying cooped up in her room; at long last, her feet led her to a rose garden and she sat down cross-legged on a bench. She wasn't sure how long she sat there or how long a certain pair of emerald eyes watched her from the shadows, but it was awhile.

"You know, some people would think you were mad for being out here in the dark for so long. Then again, you were with my cousin for awhile, so you must be some sort of crazy." Neal commented quietly, startling Brea, who fell off the bench and landed in the grass.

"Do you have to be so damn quiet. Queenscove?" She demanded, struggling to her feet without hurting her ankle even further, and brushing grass from her hair and clothes.

"Hello to you too, Lady Goldenlake." Neal drawled, sitting on the bench.

"Hello, Neal, it's good to see you." Brea said and hugged him; they had been friends since she her first trip to the castle.

"May I inquire as to why you are out here, Brea?" He asked, pulling her down on the bench beside him.

"No." She said, staring up at the stars again.

"It has to do with Dom, doesn't it?" He ventured quietly, staring at her. Brea was quiet and the silence lengthened. "I see that it does. He's hurting you know. He's been with very few woman since you left him."

"Are you saying I'm wrong for doing away with our relationship?" Brea demanded, her grey/blue eyes flashing angrily.

"No, I didn't say that." He said gently, trying not to anger her.

"Then what the hell are you saying, Neal?" She snapped, glaring at him.

"I'm saying you should talk to him. Listen to him and let him explain. There is more to the story than just what you know." He said quietly, staring back at her with shining emerald eyes.

"How much more to the story can there be." Neal had done what he was trying not to do: piss off Brea. "He slept with a whore and I caught him, end of story." She growled and stood up, walking back into the castle with a slight limp.

**FLASHBACK**

"Uncle Raoul, where is Dom?" Brea asked, glancing around at the various men seated at the table. It was dinner and she was eating with Raoul as he and the men had just gotten back.

"I think he retired to his room early." Raoul replied, chuckling at the eagerness of his niece. He couldn't be happier at the paring of one of his soldiers and his niece, it was a good match, no matter how much his brother whined about it.

"Oh, it was good to see you uncle." Brea stood and kissed his cheek, before starting to walk away, only to be stopped by a hand grabbing her arm.

"Going to leave me for your man then? I see how you are." Raoul teased, putting on a mournful puppy dog face. Brea laughed and patted her uncle's cheek.

"I love you, uncle Raoul, but I've spent almost the entire evening with you. Please let me go." Brea begged and Raoul laughed, releasing her arm.

"Be gone with you then." Raoul said, dismissing her with a wave of his hand. Brea left the dining hall and started towards Dom's rooms, trying not to run. When she faced the door, she found it shut and figured he was probably sleeping.

"Dom?" She called out and knocked, before opening it and walking in. What she saw, instantly made her heart crumble into a million pieces.

"Brea!" Dom shouted, rolling off the pretty red head beneath him and quickly covering himself up. "Wh..What are you doing here?"

"How could you do this to me? I guess it was just to good to be true." Brea said and ran from the room, headed for her rooms. Dom groaned and stood up, dressing quickly and haphazardly. As Brea reached her rooms, she slammed the door, sinking onto her bed as tears spilled over. The door creaked open and Dom poked his face in. "Go away!" She shouted.

"Brea...I'm sorry." Dom said, pushing open the door the rest of the way and standing in her doorway.

"Sorry? Sorry?" Brea shouted and stood up, standing in front of him. "Sorry isn't going to fix this! Sorry is when you step on someone's foot. Sorry is when you run into someone. Sorry doesn't fix it when you cheat on me!" Both of them stood silent for a moment, Dom trying to find something besides sorry to say and Brea just staring at the floor. "Why? Why did you do it?"

"I don't know, I honestly don't." Dom muttered, feeling horrible. He truly did care about Brea; he would even go as far as to say that he loved her. Why he had just broken her heart, he didn't know. It was something that truly boggled him.

"Then I honestly don't know why I fell for you. Were through." Brea said sadly and shut the door, being sure to lock it.

"Brea please! Please, forgive me!" Dom said, pounding on the door.

"Leave me alone, Dom." Brea begged, tears falling down her cheeks as she sobbed. "Your only hurting me more than you already have."

"I can't! Because I love you! Damnit, I love you Brea." He called back and heard her fall silent. "Brea?" He ventured, knocking on the door, wondering what had happened.

"Please, go away. If you loved me, you wouldn't have hurt me." She said back and finally heard Dom walk away. Brea didn't bother to change out of her gown and ended up crying herself to sleep that night. She left the castle three days later.

**END FLASHBACK**


	3. Tonight, I Wanna Cry

**A/N - Yeah...there was something in this chapter too...**

------

Dom sighed and sat himself down at the bar of a nearby pub. He had done nothing but think about Brea for the past few days. It was driving him damn near insane. He couldn't his mind off of her. He ordered his favorite drink and sipped it down.

_There's pictures of you and I on the walls around me. The way that it was and could have been surrounds me. I'll never get over you walkin' away_

Dom sat there, steadily getting more and more drunk, forgetting Brea and the entire world. He had downed another drink and pounded on the bar for another one, when the bartender walked over, shaking his head.

"Son, I don't know what you going through and personally, I don't care, but you've had far to much to drink. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He told him sternly, narrowing his eyes at Dom in a daring way.

"This is a public place, correct? I'm aloud to stay here as long as I please." Dom challenged loudly, his words slurred together terribly. His drink of choice got him drunk terribly fast. "I'm a paying costumer."

"We won't be accepting your money anymore." The bar fell silent as Dom and the bartender stared each other down. Finally Dom caved and stood up so fast the stool he was sitting on fell over.

"This bar is trash anyways." He snapped and left the bar, staggering through the streets back to the castle. Somewhere between leaving and then getting to the castle, his sober subconscious was slightly afraid that he would never make it back to his room. Finally, after much difficulty with unlocking the door, he stumbled into his rooms and slammed the door, making his way to the stash of liquor in his desk.

_I've never been the kind to ever let my feelings show And I thought that bein' strong meant never losin' your self-control_

Dom slammed the bottle down after a long drink, remembering his time spent with Brea. Gods, those had been such great times. He never remembered laughing so much as he had when he was with her. Brea had the light of his life; it tore him apart to know she hated him. It was fault. He deserved any and everything she threw at him.

_But I'm just drunk enough to let got of my pain. To hell with my pride, let it fall like rain from my eyes. Tonight I wanna cry_

For the first time in three years, a single tear chorused down Dom's cheek, landing on his hand. Another followed. And another one soon after that. Before he knew it, the bottle of liquor was in a pool on the floor and he was crying like a baby.

_Or maybe unfold some old yellow lost love letters. It's gonna hurt bad before it gets better. But I'll never get over you by hidin' this way_

"I should've told her the truth. Should've told her how much I loved her. Gods, i'm such a fool for letting her go." He told himself through his tears, burying his face in his hands.

_I've never been the kind to ever let my feelings show. And I thought that bein' strong meant never losin' your self-control. But I'm just drunk enough to let got of my pain. To hell with my pride, let it fall like rain from my eyes. Tonight I wanna cry_

Dom couldn't ever remember a single time in his entire life when he had cried so much. Not even at his cousin Victoria's funeral. As close as they had been, he had only shed one or two tears. This was tearing him up from the inside out and he couldn't take it. He picked up the bottle and threw at the wall opposite him, watching as it shattered into a thousand pieces. Collapsing on his bed, he cried himself into a deep sleep.

**I would still love to get some reviews...**


	4. Pretty Girl

**A/N - This one as well...**

-------

Brea ran up the steps of the castle, ignoring the pain in her ankle as she made her way into her rooms, slamming the door, despite the hour. She limped to her bedroom and collapsed on the bed, a tear rolling out of her eye.

_Pretty girl is suffering, while he confesses everything. Pretty soon she'll figure out what his intentions were about. That's what you get for falling again. You can never get 'em out of your head_

As exhaustion crept up on Brea, she changed into her sleeping clothes, extinguished the lights in her room and lay back on the bed. What was up with her? She promised herself that she would NEVER even think about being with Dom again. Yet she knew that what happened between them...wasn't ALL Dom's fault.

_It's the way, that he makes you feel. It's the way, that he kisses you. It's the way, that he makes you fall in love._

As she curled up with a pillow, staring at the dark wall, she remembered how Dom had helped her that day. He had said he still loved her. Then again, how could she know he was for real about his feelings. Men like Dom were always trying to get into the heads of pretty girls. Sweet talk. Innocent kisses. Then bam, once they got what they wanted...they would leave the girl, broken hearted.

_She's beautiful as usual with bruises on her ego and her killer instinct tells her to be aware of evil men..._

"No...that's not Dom, he would never do that to me." Brea told herself, shaking her head furiously to get rid of the thoughts in her head. They were evil thoughts...as well as completely false. Or was it?

_And that's what you get for falling again, you can never get 'em out of your head..._

Punching her pillow with aggravation, Brea rolled over and kicked the blanket off. She couldn't sleep. It was like even thought they were apart, she could NOT, for the life of her, stop thinking about Dom.

_And that's what you get for falling again, you can never get 'em out of your head..._

Brea missed him terribly. When her and Dom had been together, she felt like as long as she was in his arms, nothing could harm her. After her brother Caiden's death, Dom had been the only person there for her to talk to. Countless times he had sat and held her while she mourned over the death of her brother. They had been much more than friends, even before Dom started courting her.

_It's the way, that he makes you cry. It's the way, that he's in your mind. It's the way, that he makes you fall in love_

"Get over him. He cheated on you." Brea told herself, finally feeling sleep catch up to her and her eyelids grew heavy. "Then again, you aren't innocent either..." She murmured out loud before she gave into the clutches of the sandman.

_It's the way, that he makes you fall in love...Love_

**Keith Urban's song was used in the last chapter...Surgarcult in this one...the end of my song filled chapters...I PROMISE!**

**I would love some reviews, and the next ones will take time, as i'm having to re-write them and school is a pain in the...yeah**


	5. Dirty Little Secret

**Disclaimer – I own nothing…except the plot and Breanna…**

**-------**

The next morning found Dom up way before dawn and vomiting, something he rarely, if ever, did after drinking. The previous nights events were blurred in his mind, but he did remember crying...alot. On the way back from the privy to his bed, his foot came in contact with a shard of glass from the liquor bottle and Dom swore under his breath, hobbling to his bed.

"I'm never going to drink for as long as I live." He grumbled, sitting down to inspect his foot and set to removing the glass. "Never in a million years." His foot bled sluggishly and he quickly bandaged it up, knowing he would have to get it looked at later, but getting more sleep was more important to him at the moment.

A loud knock on his door, followed by a shout pulled him from his gentle slumber.

"What?" He shouted angrily and he heard the door open and someone cross his sitting room, to enter the bedroom.

"Still want to go riding?" Asked Neal. "Or would you like to lay around and mope because you're to stupid to talk to her?"

"Go away, Meathead." Dom demanded, putting the pillow over his head.

"I'll leave, but your still stupid." Neal said and barely missed being hit in the head by a pillow, but a stream of curses did follow him from the room.

Dom managed to sleep through breakfast, lunch and a good portion of the day, awakening with a slight headache and a steady dull in the bottom of his foot. Throwing back the blankets, he stood up and limped to the privy to get ready for the rest of his day.

A quiet, but ever present knock, pulled the half-dressed Dom from his privy.

"Meathead! Leave me be, I'm not going to talk to-" He pulled the door open and was face to face with Brea.

"Hi." She breathed quietly, staring at the ground.

**--------**

A loud knock on the door pulled Brea from her deep slumber and she groaned, not wanting to get up. The previous night she had finally fallen asleep after getting back from talking to Neal. Aggravated, she yanked open the door and stared sleepily up at her best friend, Kel.

"Must you wake me up?" Brea demanded, she wasn't the definition of a 'morning person.' After letting Kel in, she limped back to her bed and sat down. Her ankle hurt, but not nearly as bad.

"Yes, because your lazy arse has been asleep for almost the entire day. It's already well past noon." Kel told her, sitting in a chair beside Brea's bed.

"Is the queen mad at me for missing this morning?" Brea asked, brushing her black hair from her face.

"No, she knows you hurt your ankle." Kel responded, propping her feet up on the bed. "She was however, worried when you didn't show up at breakfast or lunch. Raoul sent me here to check on you."

"Well you can tell him that I'm fine, just a little tired." Brea told her friend, picking at the blanket.

"Bull. Neal told me about the talk you two had last night. He is sorry for making you mad." Kel had been woken up when Neal slipped back into bed with her and spent the rest of the night, talking.

"I had forgotten that you two were together. How goes it?" Brea was hoping to lure the conversation away from her and Dom; Kel caught on and grinned.

"Don't even think about changing the subject." Kel told her. "Come on, you can talk to me." Brea flopped backwards on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Is there really more to the story?" She asked the ceiling, more than Kel.

"Yes."

"Then why can't you tell me?"

"Because, I don't know it and even if I did, Dom should be the one to tell you. Not me and Neal." Kel sighed. "You should talk to him."

"Gods you start sounding more and more like Neal everyday." Brea grumbled, sitting back up.

"Well, sharing a room with him might happen, but I've also been talking with Dom. After I got over wanting to murder him."

"So you agree with Meathead then? I should talk to Dom?" Brea asked, sitting up and looking at Kel.

"I do agree with him. For a meathead, Neal does have quite a few good ideas." Kel shrugged, studying her boots. "He was a bit grumpy earlier but he should be okay by now."

Grumbling under her breath, Brea gathered up clean clothes and went into her privy to change. Emerging a few minutes later, she pulled on her boots and stood up, following Kel from the room. Brea purposely slowed her walk, not wanting to rush her arrival and actually came to a dead stop when they were down the hall from Dom's room.

"What are you doing?" Kel demanded, hands braced on her hips.

"Nothing." Brea scuffed her boot against the floor.

"Brea, get over there right now." She didn't move. "Breanna, if you don't start walking right this instant, I will put you over my shoulder and deposit you in his room myself." Kel told her friend, narrowing hazel eyes at her.

Not at all wanting to test Kel, as she had actually put Brea over her shoulder once before, Brea began shuffling across the floor. It took her a good ten minutes before she finally reached her destination. Her hand hesitated before knocking and at Kel's glare, she knocked ever so quietly.

"Meathead! Leave me be, I'm not going to talk to-" Brea heard Dom's sentence cut short as the door was flung open. She suddenly found it hard not to stare as his bare chest.

"Hi." She breathed quietly.

"Lady Breanna, how may I help you?" Dom asked, being more sarcastic and rude than he was nice; he wasn't in the mood to get yelled at.

"Can we talk?" Brea asked, grimacing as her full name rolled off his tongue. "Meathead and Kel convinced me to come here and talk about the full story. Whatever that might be."

"Knew those two would come in handy someday." Dom joked, smiling slightly and could've sworn he saw the ghost of a smile flicker across Brea's face. "Come in." He said and pushed open the door, allowing Brea to walk in, before shutting it. "You can sit there." Dom gestured to a chair and Brea sat, noticing shards of glass and what looked like...blood? She didn't even want to know.

"Well, I suppose I could let you start." Brea said, readjusting slightly as Dom sat in the chair opposite hers, the sunlight spilling over his face.

"That night, I remember it clearly. We had just gotten back from helping out that little village. Despite what you may think, I was rather eager to see you." Dom sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I dismount, tend to my horses and go off to find my beloved." Brea bowed her head slightly, fiddling with the edge of the chair, pulling at a loose string. "But she knows that she isn't as innocent as everyone thinks, is she?" Dom's blue eyes bored into the top of Brea's head as she remembered that day, as clearly as ever.

**FLASHBACK**

"Missing him already?" Questioned Cleon, stepping up on the fence beside Brea.

"What do you mean, 'already'? He's been gone nearly two months." Brea retorted, glancing at Cleon.

"You poor thing, heart broken and sobbing over a man already. You're sixteen and beautiful, you have years ahead of you to cry after guys." Cleon joked, nudging Brea and causing her to fall off the fence. "He's part of the King's Own, you should try to get used to it." He said and hopping off the fence.

"I'm trying and it's not working. I guess that's just the sixteen year-old side of me. The girl in me that wants someone close by." Brea shrugged and they started inside. "I don't know, maybe I should look for someone closer to my own age."

"I'm just saying, that if you stay with Dom, be prepared to sleep alone for awhile. They are gone for most of the year, considering that your uncle is the knight commander and he prefers to be active, than sitting on his rump in the castle like other knights." He pointed out.

"That's my uncle for you." She muttered and crossed her arms over her chest as they started inside. Cleon laughed and draped an arm over her shoulders.

"He will be back in no time, don't worry." He said; truth was, he knew that the King's Own was just outside of Corus and would be to the castle soon. What he didn't know was they were already in the stables.

"I know. This is where I leave you." Brea leaned against her door. "Thanks for talking to me...I think."

"No problem, that's what friends are for." Cleon said and stood in front of her. Before Brea could stop him, Cleon had leaned down and pressed his lips against hers in a heated kiss, his arms lacing around her waist to pull her against him. Her first impulse was to back up and smack him for it, but oh! How she had missed being kissed like this! She let it happen, even adding a little spice to it; what she didn't know, was a certain blue-eyed soldier, eager to see her, watched them from the shadows and walked away broken hearted.

**END FLASHBACK**

"I'm guessing you were hoping I would never find out about the kiss between you and Cleon?" Dom asked, his eyes still boring a hole in the top of her head.

"No, my conscience wouldn't let me live with it." Brea retorted, staring up at Dom. "I was coming to apologize for it, when I caught you in bed with that...girl."

"You may have a point there, but throughout these two years, you went on, pretending like you did nothing wrong in our relationship. Making me look like the bad guy, when you weren't Ms. Perfect either." Dom said, sitting forward and staring at her. He wasn't angry with her, just wanted the truth.

"What did you expect?" Brea demanded, her voice rising slightly. "Did you want me to say that I kissed Cleon, which made you sleep with someone else. It's okay though, we'll just be even. Is that what you wanted me to say?"

"I'm not saying that's what I wanted you to do, but you didn't need to play innocent." Dom said and sighed; they were going to get nowhere by fighting. "Look, you should know that when I slept with Juliana, it was a one time thing. I never saw her again after that, except when we were joined up with the Riders to do something." He ran a hand through his sleep-disheveled hair. "That night, a bunch of the Own and some Riders were going down to the Dancing Dove to have a few drinks and celebrate. I was pissed off at you and upset. Me and Juliana sat down at a table to talk over a few drinks. One thing led to another and the next thing I knew, you were walking in on us, and I was pounding on your door, screaming for the whole hall to hear that I loved you. Then there was nothing." He buried his face in his hands, feeling horrible for the whole ordeal all over again.

Brea sighed, at a loss for words. So there was more to the story and she was just being stupid and ignoring it. What she had just learned made everything different. She had been the true cause of their break-up, it was her fault.

"I just came to hear everything out." Brea stood up and Dom glanced up at her. "I'll leave now." She started towards the door.

"Don't go," Dom gently grabbed Brea's arm and turned her to face him.

"Why not? I'm just as guilty as you, maybe even more so." Brea stared at the floor.

"Well, that much is true. You are just as guilty as I am." Dom said and Brea glanced up at him, startled.

"I guess your right." Brea sighed, biting her bottom lip.

"We can still be friends though, right?" Dom asked. "Before we were together, you were one of my closest friends, can we still be that?"

"Friends I can do." Brea responded with a smile and they hugged.

**Reviews would be much appreciated…I have laryngitis so when I'm feeling a hundred percent better, I will start writing chapter six…**


	6. Dream or Reality?

**(A/N - I'm still kind of sick, but while I was cooped up in my room, I started to get ideas and started writing. This is what it became. Also, please excuse any mistakes, I'm uploading this before I go to sleep and didn't check it for any mistakes.)**

**Disclaimer - Still don't own this, it belongs to Tamora Pierce.**

**_-XXXXX-_**

"Uncle Raoul, how long do you think it will be?" Brea asked, helping to saddle his horse. It had been two weeks since her and Dom had made-up, and Brea's mood had definitely improved, except now.

"It won't take long. I promise my dear." Raoul said, kissing Brea on the forehead. "It's just a group of bandits, we've dealt with them plenty of times."

"Yes but uncle, don't you think it's foolish to just take a small group of men with you? There could be loads more out there than you think." Brea argued; the whole thing didn't sit well with her, she had a bad feeling in her stomach.

"I've been at this a long time, I know what I'm doing."

"But uncle-"

"Breanna, stop." Raoul said, raising his voice slightly, which caused Brea to fall silent and shuffle her feet. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

"Then trust me when I say, everything will be fine." Raoul hugged his niece. "I'll be back in a few weeks."

"Be careful." Brea said, standing on her tiptoes to kiss her uncle on the cheek; she missed and kissed his chin instead.

"Like I said, back before you know." Raoul smiled and led his horse from the stable, leaving Brea alone in the stall. She had been standing there for a few minutes, when she heard a voice.

"He's right you know. You have no reason to worry." Dom said gently, stepping into the stall.

"Dom, have you ever just had a bad feeling about something?" Brea asked, glancing up at him. "Like when you know something bad is going to happen?"

"Yes, I have." Dom started with a nod. "But that's no reason to go arguing with him, Brea. You should trust him when he says everything will be fine."

"I'm not a child, so do not speak to me as one, Domitan." Brea seethed, glaring at him. Dom sighed and cleared his throat, trying to figure out how to get his point across, without angering Brea.

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just; all of us have dealt with bandits before. Your uncle has seen many battles. Compared to that, bandits are like a walk in the park for Raoul. We will be fine." Dom said, placing his hands on Brea's shoulders and staring into her eyes.

"I suppose your right." Brea mumbled, breaking from Dom's look and staring at the floor.

"Excuse me? What was that? Mind repeating it?" Dom asked, a slight joking tone to how he asked.

"I said your right, but it's the first and last time." Brea playfully pushed him away. Dom grinned and stumbled, but quickly regained his balance.

"How do you push me. Sergeant Domitan of the King's Own." Dom said, puffing out his chest, which caused Brea to laugh. "And now you laugh at me? Now your in for it." Dom charged at Brea and picked her up, spinning her around. (a/n: aww...how cute...fluff! XD)

"Dom! Put me down!" Brea demanded between laughter.

"Not until you apologize for laughing at me." Dom said, still spinning, but not nearly as fast.

"I'm sorry for laughing at you." Brea said and Dom stopped, returning her to the ground. "But it was still funny." Dom made to grab Brea again, but Raoul made his presence known with a cough.

"Dom, stop flirting with Brea, we need to get going." He said, a mischievous grin worming it's way across his face.

"We weren't flirting. Dom was just being...Dom." Brea said, blushing slightly and staring at the ground. She promised herself she was going to keep things between her and Dom strictly friendly, nothing more.

_He started it..._ Brea thought to herself.

"And Brea was being mean." Dom said with an over enthusiastic nod.

"Was not." She grumbled, pushing him out of the stall.

"Dom, we need to go." Raoul said persistently, watching while his niece and sergeant hugged good-bye. It was much more than a friend-to-friend hug and the two of them were being completely stupid.

"See you in a few weeks, Brea. I promise." Raoul kissed Brea on the head and hugged her one last time, before leaving the stables altogether, a rather sad-looking Dom, following.

_**-XXXXXX-**_

Brea sighed and rolled over, punching fluff back into her pillow. It was the third night during the week when she had been unable to fall asleep; she wasn't sure how much longer she could last on the training field, especially since Buri had started bringing in new people and she was to help train them. It had also been a week since the King's Own had left.

"This is unbelievable." She grumbled, tossing and turning some more. After ten more minutes of settling and re-settling herself, she finally got comfortable and pretty soon, she was within the clutches of the sandman.

_**-----**_

_Brea's dream self drifted over a small fire, some thirty odd men huddled around it. All of them looked tired and worn-out, wearing raggedy and mud splattered blue and silver tunics. It felt to real to be a dream, but that's what she was almost certain it was._

_"Sir, their coming." Said a tired voice; to Brea it sounded familiar. Dom? As what he said registered to the other men, they began moving quietly, banking the fire and ridding their horses of any extra belongings they wouldn't be needing._

_"Alright men, this might be the only time we will catch them off guard." Raoul said, running a hand over his tired features. "I didn't think there would be this many men, it was foolish of me and I risked all of your lives by doing it."_

_"It's okay sir, we still love you." Said one of the men, clapping Raoul on the shoulder, causing everyone else to laugh quietly._

_"Well, let's try to catch these bandits by surprise and hopefully we'll be home by tomorrow evening." The men disbanded and moved quietly, either mounting horses or slinking into the woods._

_Even though Brea wasn't really there, and to her, this was all just a dream, she waited just as breathlessly with the men._

_In a blink of an eye, the fight started, and instantly, several bandits fell, but not without one man of the King's Own._

_And just when Brea thought it would end, it just got worse. She saw Dom shot in the shoulder with an arrow and tried to cry out to him, but reminded herself it was ONLY a dream._

_But it felt to real...like every man she saw fall, was really dying...something that real couldn't be a mere dream..._

_Raoul felt his horse lurch to a stop, the rear and sent him flying; he land on his backside with a groan. He was getting far to old for this. Three bandits advanced on him and he struggled to his feet, prepared to fight them off._

_He promised Brea and Buri he would return in one piece and he wasn't really one to break promises..._

_Raoul had slain two of them, and the last one was giving him quite the fight, but nothing he couldn't handle. The bandit gave him a toothless grin and charged at Raoul with a growl. The knight ducked to the side, but not fast enough; the tip of the sword bit into his side, drawing blood. _

_Brea winced, seeing blood and trying to convince herself that it wasn't real, just her imagination. Shaking her head, she tried to wake herself up from the dream turned nightmare._

_"Your mine now." The bandit said and with another swing of his sword, Raoul was slain._

_"Uncle Raoul!" Brea shouted, waking herself up._

**-----**

Brea woke with a cry and sat up, trying to shake the image of her uncle being killed, from her head. The dream had felt so real to her, like she was actually there during the fight.

But it was only a dream...right?

Shaking, she lay back on her bed, trying to fall back asleep; she finally managed it, only to wake up ten minutes later. Aggravated, Brea stood up and began dressing for the day; the dream still didn't sit well with her.

"Brea?" Buri called out as she knocked on the door and opened it.

"Coming." Brea called as she finished lacing up her boots. The older woman sighed and leaned against the doorframe, wondering what in the world Jon and Thayet had to tell her and Brea. "What do you need?"

"The king and queen need to speak with us." Buri mumbled and Brea felt like a brick had been dropped in her stomach. "You alright?" She asked, putting a gentle hand on Brea's shoulder.

"I'm fine." She mumbled. "What do they need?"

"I don't know." They both started down the hall towards the meeting office. Brea remained silent during the entire time, not trusting herself to speak. What she had seen had only been a dream, right? It couldn't have been the truth. She didn't have a single drop of magic in her, and there was no way she could've seen that without the help of some sort of magic.

"Breanna, are you with us?" Asked King Jonathon, his deep, yet gentle voice, jolting Brea from her thoughts.

"Yes, your majesty." Brea mumbled and ducked her head, focusing on her lap.

"We got word from someone that the men who rode out last week, have been well..." Jon trailed off, choking back tears that stung his eyes. "They were heavily outnumbered and unfortunately most of them were killed, only six survived."

"Was Raoul one of the ones to survive?" Buri asked, praying that he was. Brea chanced a look at the king and saw him shake his head no. Instantly, she felt like she had been punched in the stomach and she couldn't breathe.

He was really gone...

No...that couldn't be true, something had to be wrong. The king just had to be wrong. Uncle Raoul couldn't be dead.

_You know he's right._ A little nagging voice in the back of her mind said.

"I have to go." Brea murmured and stood to her feet; the room swayed and rocked beneath her feet, and she fainted.

_**-XXXXXX-**_

**Yes I know...all of you probably hate me for killing Raoul and I really didn't want to, because he's my favorite person out of all of the books, besides George.**

**I would still love to get some reviews on this...XD**


	7. Rain Heals Everything

**A/N - So for all the people that DON'T hate me for killing Raoul in the last chapter (which i DID NOT want to do by the way, even though my friend thinks i did) here is chapter seven...ENJOY...XD...**

**Disclaimer - Do I have to keep doing this? I only own Breanna and the plot...nada mas...**

**_-XXXXX-_**

"Today we are here to say good-bye to our dearly departed friend and knight." Said the voice of the priest, although Brea hardly paid attention to anything he was saying. She was numb and sat on the bench with her mother and father, staring down at her hands. Raoul was really gone, he was dead; it was hard for her to believe as she had spent most of her life growing up around him.

A tear leaked out of her eye and landed, melding with the black material of her dress. She couldn't lose it, not now. Oh well...to late...Brea started full out sobbing, her shoulders shaking with the effort to keep as quiet as possible. An arm wrapped around Brea's shoulders and her father pulled her to her feet, starting from the chapel.

"It's okay, my dear Breanna, it's okay." Anthony murmured, rubbing her back soothingly.

"I just miss him." She said, wiping at her face as her tears stopped for the moment.

"I know." Anthony cupped Brea's chin, gazing down at her. "But Raoul wouldn't want you to grieve and tear yourself up over this. Cry, yes, but only as long as it's needed." Brea simply nodded and stood beside Buri as people started from the chapel, shaking hands with each of them in turn, offering sympathies and condolences. One of the last people to leave the chapel was Dom, his left arm held in a stationary right angle position, as it was the one that had been shot.

"Lord Anthony, I'm sorry about Raoul. He was a really good friend, I don't know what I would've done." He murmured, shaking Anthony's hand.

"Thank you, young Domitan, I know you and my brother were good friends. You have no idea how much it means to us that you brought him back to us." Anthony responded and Dom moved down the line, kissing Rhiannon's hand, hugging the crying Buri and he stopped at Brea.

"Brea, I..."

"I know Dom, you're sorry." Brea murmured, staring at the ground.

"Truly I am Brea. I wish there was something I could've done." Dom whispered, grasping her hand softly with his good one.

"If sorry and wishes could bring my uncle back, he would alive right now." Brea said coldly, tired of everybody just saying how 'sorry' they were. They had no idea what she was going through. "I just want someone to...forget it."

"Brea, what is it?" Dom took her hand and led her away.

"I want someone to be able to understand. He wasn't just my uncle, be was my best friend, he trained me to fight with a sword and hand-to-hand. He taught me how to ride and even bought me my first pony." Brea started crying again and Dom pulled her into a one armed hug. "I loved him and I miss him so much."

"I know you miss him." Dom murmured, feeling tears trickling down his shoulder.

"No, you don't." Brea pulled away from him and crying, she ran down the hall, intent on getting out of the castle.

_**-XXXXX-**_

Dom, Buri, Kel, Neal and Brea's parents sat in the sitting room of Brea's rooms, all of them just kind of staring stupidly at each other. Neal coughed and shifted, breaking the silence.

"Anybody had any idea where she went?" Kel asked, running a hand through her hair.

"If we did, we would be out there, getting her back." Dom responded, somewhat irritably.

"No need to snap, it was just a question." Neal said, coming to Kel's defense, even though it wasn't needed; she could understand his annoyance.

"She's going to catch a terrible cold, it's raining and cold outside." Rhiannon said, her hand gripping her husband's painfully tight.

"My love, that is the least of our worries. At this point, I just want her to come back, who cares if she's sick or not." Anthony responded, easing the vice grip on his hand; he had started losing feeling in it.

"Dom, doesn't she have a place she goes?" Buri asked, slowly raising her head from her hands and staring at Dom with puffy red eyes.

"Yeah, thinking about it, she does." Dom mentally kicked himself for not remembering the spot in the woods Brea claimed as her own. He stood up and started towards the door, only to find it blocked by Anthony, who was built almost exactly like Raoul, except he was taller by two inches.

"Domitan, you're going to tell me where Breanna is and then were going to ride out together and bring her back." Anthony said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"With all due respect sir, that is not a good idea." Dom responded.

"What makes you say that?" The older man asked, glaring at Dom.

"I know Brea a lot better than most of the people in the room. If we ride up and haul her back here kicking and screaming, she will hate us. If I go alone, I can talk to her." The young sergeant explained calmly.

"Are you saying I don't know my own child?" Anthony demanded, his voice rising. "I cared for that girl, me and Rhiannon both did, we love her."

"I'm not saying that and I'm certainly not doubting the love you and Lady Rhiannon have for her either." Dom took a breath. "But I also love Brea, more than anyone can ever know, and I know I can get her to listen to me." Anthony stared down at Dom, shock written all over his face; Dom could only imagine what everyone else's face looked like.

As the people in the room registered what he said, Dom took the opportunity to slip out the door and start quickly down the hall. As he stood in the stables, attempting to saddle his horse, he realized it would harder than he thought.

"I can't waste time." Dom muttered, pulling on the ties of the brace and allowing it to drop to the floor. "The storm is getting worse." Stretching out his arm, he fought the urge to cry out in pain, but continued working. He would be in for it with the healers, as they had instructed the brace to be left on long enough for his shoulder to heal. Dom finished saddling his horse and mounted, riding out of the stables and into the woods.

Having followed Brea many times, he knew the way through the woods like the back of his hand and in no time at all, he spotted her horse Whisper, under a large tree and shielded from the rain.

"Hey girl, where is she?" Dom asked the horse, petting its head. As if the horse understood him, she tossed her head to left, where Dom could make out the faint outline of someone sitting in the wet grass beside the pond. "Alright, both of you stay here, I'll bring her back soon." He dismounted from Lark and started very carefully over to Brea; his black mourning clothes were drenched with water and clung to his skin.

"Knew you would get here eventually." Brea said quietly as Dom sat next to her; her knees were hugged to her chest and the black gown pooled around her, taking in rain, grass and mud in the area around her, her black curls hung defeated on her shoulders.

"I had to come get you, your parents were going crazy." Dom said, glancing at her, even now he couldn't help but notice how the rainwater made the gown cling to Brea in all of the right places.

_Wow, Brea has grown a lot...how come I never noticed that before? _His perverted mind was saying, then the sensible part joined in._ Stop it Dom! Now is not the time for that!_ His brain scolded and he shook his head to rid it of any...thoughts.

"I just had to be alone." Brea muttered, staring into the pond.

"Understandable." Dom said, nodding his head.

"So, who sent you after me? Was it my father or Neal?" She glanced at Dom and he saw that her eyes were a very mellow grey color, something he rarely saw, as they were normally a bright blue.

"Uh, kind of a combination of both, along with your mother, Kel and Buri." Was his response, followed by a shrug. "Believe it or not I do know what you're going through."

"Really now? You do?" Brea demanded, raising her eyebrows. "So you know what it's like to lose someone you care for so deeply that it hurts to even think about them?"

"Yes I do." Dom said. "Brea, people know what you're going through, they know how you're feeling and they want to help you. You just have to bother to let them in." He scolded, his voice rising.

"I can't!" Brea jumped up and Dom followed suit. "Uncle Raoul was like my father! I didn't have a father growing up, because he was always gone and my uncle Raoul was there! I loved him more than my own parents! And no one can understand that!"

"I do, Brea! I do!" Dom shouted back. "I lost my father when I was ten and I grew up with no one around! I came here and Raoul treated me like a son! I loved him as much as you do, I understand how you feel."

"I just miss him so much." Brea muttered miserably. "It's like there is a big gaping hole in my chest."

"I know and so do I." Dom said and pulled Brea towards him, hugging her; Brea put her face in his shirt. "But we can get through this and we'll get through it together."

"Thank you Dom." She murmured into his shirt; the rain still fell steadily around them.

"Anything for you." Dom slipped a hand under her chin and made Brea look up at him; her eyes were still a stormy grey color. "Brea, I love you. I meant it when I said it two years ago and I mean it now." And with that said, he closed the distance between them and kissed Brea lovingly.

**_-XXXXX-_**

**Aaaannnnddd there is it...they finally kissed...**

**Reviews would be appreciated and if you can find the reference to the Circle of Magic books...you get...brownie points! Just want to see how many of you can catch it...**


	8. Being Sick and Late Night Rants

**A/N: Sooo...here is, at long last, an update for all you lovely people that believed I would return. Once again, I'm sorry that it took me so long. As well, a rather evil face will be making an appearance. Anyway, I won't keep you from the story much longer; here goes the REAL chapter eight.**

**Disclaimer - Don't own. Wish I did though. Anyone you don't recognize...is probably mine and I claim them.**

_**-X-X-X-X-**_

Brea yawned and looked around her room, blinking as her eyes came into contact with bright, blinding sunlight. Then the sneezing attack hit and she sneezed seven times in a row before stopping.

"Stupid rain." She grumbled, tossing the blanket back so she could get up and dress for the day. "Made me sick." Just as she was gathering up clothes, her mother bustled into the room and stared at Brea, hands on her hips.

"Just what do you think your doing?" Rhiannon demanded, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh...getting ready to bathe, so I don't smell when I go out to the field to practice. We may get dirty, but we do notice each others stench." Brea responded, sniffling.

"I don't think so, get back in bed. Your sick." Rhiannon said, forcefully dragging her daughter back to bad.

"Mother." She whined, not taking lightly to being shoved into bed like a two year-old. "I'll be fine."

"You will not, your sick and plus, I've already talked to Buri and the queen about it." Rhiannon began folding the discarded clothes. "They do not want you around the field until your better, you could get the rest of the Riders sick and that wouldn't do."

"I'm not even contagious." Brea grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.

"Just get some rest, i'll be back in a little bit." Rhiannon kissed Brea's forehead, before bustling from the room. Her mother's cheery mood annoyed her; Raoul had just died and she was happy go lucky already. Some mourning period that had been.

"She annoys me." Brea muttered, pulling the blankets over her head and drifting into sleep again.

---

As weight was being pressed on her legs, Brea was roused from sleep and peaked out from underneath her cocoon to see who the person sitting on her was. Dom.

"Afternoon." He greeted cheerfully, smiling.

"You do realize your sitting on my legs, right?" Brea asked, sitting up and looking at him; she silently cursed him for not even coughing and then cursed the rainstorm again.

"You were sleeping like a rock, I had to get you up somehow." Dom responded with a shrug, moving off of her legs.

"You have twisted logic."

"I know."

"So, why did you wake me up?" She asked, leaning against the headboard.

"No reason. Since their deciding on a new commander, we have nothing else to do, so I've been stuck with Meathead and Kel all day." Dom wiggled his arm in its brace, having been forced back into it by Neal and Duke Baird; it was a bothersome thing and annoyed him...alot.

"Well doesn't that make me feel special." Brea grumbled. "I'm just some last resort then."

"Yeah."

"Hey!" Brea leaned forward and punched Dom's good arm, and rather viscously too.

"Ow. That hurt." Dom tried to rub his arm, but was unsuccessful. "But I love my last resort."

"You better." Brea said, accepting a kiss from Dom.

"How about you get changed and then we go get lunch. You have to be hungry from being asleep all day."

"I'm not allowed to leave my room." Brea stood up anyway and grabbed the clothes and towels she was going to use earlier.

"Why not?"

"Because, sitting out in the rain two days ago, made me sick."

"Well then, I'll just have to bring our lunch back here." Dom stood up from the bed and hugged Brea to him.

"Thanks Dom."

"No problem." They kissed again, and then Dom departed from the room, while Brea went into the privy to bathe and change.

_**-X-X-X-X-**_

Brea was forced to stay in bed for three days, because she apparently had a fever and wasn't allowed to leave her room. Then her mother proceeded to shove weird vials of things down her throat.

"Ack! Mother! Just leave me be, I'll be fine." Brea snapped, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the vial with a red substance in it.

"I don't care, this will make you better. I promise." Rhiannon said and held the red substance out to her.

"No, i'm not taking that stuff anymore, it's disgusting." Brea argued, pushing her mother's hand away. Anthony entered to see his wife and daughter arguing.

"Rhian, leave her be, she will be fine. It's nothing but a little cold, she does not need all of this." Anthony said, taking the vial away and smelling it. A rather putrid smell reached his nostrils and he gagged, nearly dropping it. "Why would you give her this? It smells like death."

"The healers said it work." Rhiannon then stood, snatched the vial from her husband and stalked out of the room. Shaking his head, Anthony sat on the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine, my nose is a little stuffed up and my throat hurts, but i'm fine."

"I'm not taking physically, Breanna."

"Oh. Well...i'm dealing with it..." She fidgeted with the edge of the blanket, not meeting her father's fierce gaze.

"Dealing with it? You 'dealt' with Caiden's death too, and don't think I don't remember what happened." Anthony sighed and remembered the various times Brea ran away from both Goldenlake and the palace and how hard she had taken her brothers death. They didn't think she would be the same again.

"Father, I will be fine, you don't have to worry about me."

"That's the thing, m'dear, I do have to worry about you. You are my daughter and I your father, it's part of what I have to do." Brea smiled at that and leaned forward to kiss her father's cheek, then hugged him.

"Thank you for worrying, but i'm going to be okay...soon enough." Brea said, smiling and laying back down in bed.

"Good, i'm glad to hear that." Anthony said with a nod and stood up. "Well, I might as well let you rest, get well soon, m'dear." He kissed Brea on the head and then strode from the room.

_**-X-X-X-X-**_

The following morning, Brea felt good as new and was up and dressed before her mother even had a chance to enter the room and yell at her. As Brea was crossing the sitting room, Rhiannon stood up and placed herself in front of the door.

"Where do you think your going?" Rhiannon demanded, narrowing her eyes at Brea.

"Um...to the fields.." Brea said, reaching for the door knob. "I feel fine mother, I think I'm okay to go back to training now."

"I will be the judge of that."

"Just let me leave, it's not like i'm going to keel over on the field or anything."

"Fine, leave." Rhiannon stood aside from the door and Brea slipped from the room before her mother had a chance to change her mind. Shaking her head, Brea started down the hall, wondering why her mother was acting so...weird. Shrugging it off, she picked up her pace, as she was almost certain practice had already started.

"Brea! Your back!" Shouted Buri, running to hug the younger girl. "Feeling better?"

"Much." Brea nodded her head and looked around; most of the groups were already practicing, but the people in hers, rushed over to her to hug her.

"Before you get out there, we have to talk." Buri then put her arm around the girls shoulders and steered her away from listening ears.

"Alright. Talk." Brea instructed, having a bad feeling that this had something to do with Raoul. Obviously, the whole palace was still in mourning, and there were masses of blacks, grays, and other mourning colors on the field.

"I've been talking with Thayet lately, and she seems to think that your getting restless. Being in the group that is more based at the castle, not out patrolling." Buri started, not sure how Brea would take the news. "So we've decided to move you to...Group Twelve."

"Really! That's..." Brea trailed off, mentally going over the people in the group, finally stopping at the leader. Julianna. "Buri! No way! I would rather sit on my ass, here at the castle, than be under her command."

"I know. I know." Buri sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Look, it's the best we can do for now. I know how you feel about Julianna, but she is a good leader."

"Buri...please, don't do this. Put me in group sixteen, they see lots of action too. Please. Anything but her group." Brea practically begged and if it weren't for the fact that her knee was hurting, she would've gotten down on her knees and begged.

"I'm sorry Brea, but this situation is just temporary, I promise. You start practice with Julianna's group tomorrow." Buri put a hand on Brea's shoulder and smiled, before starting away.

Brea sighed and leaned back against the fence; tomorrow she would be under command of the person who was partly responsible for what happened between her and Dom. As if Julianna knew Brea was silently stabbing her with her mind, she made her way over and smiled.

"Can I help you?" Brea asked, not bothering to keep the rudeness out of her voice.

"Firstly, we need to lay down some rules." Julianna flipped red strands of hair over her shoulder. "I am your superior, you will speak to me with respect. Follow that and we will get along just fine."

"Yes _ma'am_." Brea drawled sarcastically, making sure to add emphasis on the word ma'am.

"And everything that happened between me and Dom, just forget about it. It never happened. Got it?" Julianna asked, narrowing her eyes at Brea, as if almost daring her to say something.

"Got it." Brea growled and stalked past Julianna, heading for the stables.

_**-X-X-X-X-**_

"I hate her. I hate her. I hate her." Brea growled for the thirteenth time in the past four days. "She is so annoying and..."

"You want to knock her off her horse." Dom finished sleepily, bunching his pillow underneath his head. "You want to dangle from the rope on the Tower until it snaps and she falls. And my personal favorite, you want to shave all of her hair off and make her bald. I know baby, you do not like Julianna." It was times like these, when Brea went into her 'I hate Julianna' rants, that Dom started to regret suggesting them sharing his room.

"It's not that I just don't like, she is so annoying and bossy and I just want to..." Brea gave a frustrated sigh and punched her pillow for emphasis on what exactly she wanted to do to Julianna's face. "Oh! And did I tell you what she said to me?"

"Yes, three ti...ti...times." A yawn interrupted Dom's sentence; he sighed and rolled over, gathering Brea in his arms. "I know you don't like her and you would do anything short of kissing Lord Wyldon's feet to get out of being in Julianna's group. Buri promised this would be only temporary and she isn't one to go back on promises. So, grit your teeth and bare it."

"But Dom." Again Brea's sentence was interrupted, except this time it was by a kiss Dom planted squarely on her lips.

"Please, I'm begging you sweetie, go to bed and forget about Julianna." Dom kissed Brea again and held her against him and soon they both drifted into peaceful sleep.

_**-X-X-X-X-**_

**A/N: Okay, that's the end of that chapter...and I added in the last part, because it reminded me of a conversation I had with my exabout a girl I didn't like...except he wasn't trying to fall asleep, just tell me something. So, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tomorrow the packers are coming to box our stuff up and then Wednesday they move it to Mississippi. I'll probably have an update to you sometime next week or after that.**


	9. Can you says OOPS?

**A/N: Okay people, I feel so bad, because I don't like the people who write stories and leave them. Anyways, I'm going to try and get back into writing more often. This story will be ending soon; I have a few ideas in mind for how this is going to end. rubs hands together and gives an evil cackle**

**Disclaimer: NOT DOING THIS ANYMORE! I've done it for the past eight chapters; ya'll get the point, right?**

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"Come on Goldenlake! Keep up!" Shouted Julianna, spurring her group on faster. Brea drew in a breath and forced her aching legs to go just a tad bit faster. Julianna's idea of exercise was a run through the woods. In Brea's mind, she liked to torture them by running and thought it was fun to watch them from her horse. After a few more minutes of running, Julianna let them stop. "Goldenlake, keep lagging behind and you will be staying at the Palace."

"Why don't you get your ass off that horse and join us, instead of ragging on us." Brea snapped, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"Keep your mouth shut." Growled Rebekah quietly, shooting a glare at her. Brea had been with the group for about a month and the tension between her and Julianna could be cut with a knife...or a sword, whichever one Julianna drew on Brea first.

Raising an eyebrow, Julianna got off her horse and stalked towards Brea, her brown eyes narrowing in anger.

"What did you say?" She asked quietly and the people who surrounded Brea backed away, not wanting to be caught in the middle of something.

"Apparently, you need to clean your ears out. I said, that you need to stop ragging on us, when you won't even get off that damn horse and run with us." Brea retorted, glaring up at Julianna.

"I expect you on the field tomorrow, before sunrise. Be late and you will be out there for the rest of the week." Julianna said and lowered her voice so only Brea could hear her. "By the time I'm done with you, you will regret ever opening your mouth." She whispered and Brea gave a cold laugh.

"No I won't. Now, go on, get back to your little horsie." Brea stepped away from Julianna and smirked at her. With a cold smile in place, Julianna went back to her horse and mounted.

"Because of Lady Breanna's big mouth, we will be running the entire way back. Stay in front of me or you will be out on the fields tomorrow morning with Lady Big Mouth. Before sunrise." Julianna announced and the people in the group groaned their displeasure. Shooting a few venomous looks at Brea, they started to run again.

"Now I know why Dom didn't want to stay with you." Grumbled Brea under her breath and forced her sore legs to start moving again. "You evil woman. I hope your hair falls out."

**-----**

When practice was over, Brea had to practically force herself to walk across the fields and back to the Palace. She wondered if the servants would mind if she rode her horse into the Palace. By the time she reached the room she shared with Dom, her legs were protesting every movement and she was limping. Shuffling off to the privy, she poured water into the tub and undressed, slipping into the warm water.

**-----**

Dom sighed, making his way through the halls. He had just left a practice with the own and was on his way back to his room, where he knew Brea was waiting to explode with her daily 'I hate Julianna' rant. Which is why he was moving so slowly, that and he had twisted his knee.

"Domitan!" Cried out a voice that made Dom wince as he turned to face the owner.

"Julianna." He said, watching her jog towards him and nodded his head politely in a greeting.

"How are you? We haven't talked in ages." She cooed, flipping her red hair over her shoulder.

"For damn good reason too." Dom muttered, backing up against the wall. "I hear you have been making life miserable for my lovely Brea."

"Your point? That brat brings it all upon herself. She really needs to know when to keep her mouth shut, but I will be taking care of that tomorrow morning." Julianna smirked, as she walked closer towards Dom.

"Firstly, if you weren't so mean to her, she wouldn't be mean to you. Secondly, what exactly do you plan on doing to her?" He questioned, not liking the smirk, mainly because he knew what Julianna was capable...then again, he knew what Brea would do to extract revenge.

"You will have to wait until tomorrow when you see her to find out. If you see her."

"Julianna, what the hell are you planning?"

"Don't worry your little head about it, love." Julianna leaned in, her lips inches from Dom. "I don't get why you left me for that child."

"Juli, no...I...I love Brea." Dom said, turning his head and trying to push Julianna away from him. This was not happening.

"Are you sure about that, love?" She asked, forcing him to look at her; out of the corner of her eye, she saw a black-haired girl spying on them from the corner.

"Pos...positive." The words had no sooner left Dom's mouth, when Julianna pressed her lips against his. The kiss lasted for quite a long time, before Dom at last managed to force her away from him. "What the hell are you doing!"

"You know you liked it." Julianna started forward again, but was brutally pushed away by Dom. "Domitan...she is a mere child compared to me."

"Your not ruining my relationship with her again, come on to me again, and I'll...I'll." When Dom got angry or nervous, in this case both, his sentences stopped making sense.

"You'll what?" Julianna swept her hair out of her face and glared at Dom, hands on her hips. "Domitan, talk to me, when your ready for a real relationship." With that said, she stalked away from Domitan, a cocky smirk worn as she slipped out of the Palace. Growling, Dom turned and began limping back to his rooms.

**-----**

Brea slammed into the room she shared with Dom, throwing herself down on the bed, her wet hair was hanging over her shoulder, concealing her face from anyone who would walk into the room. Anger bubbling up inside of her. This was not happening. Not again. And with the same damn person! No. Brea felt unwanted tears slipping down her cheeks.

"I hate her." She growled, wanting to destroy Julianna at this moment. After a few more minutes of self-pity, she heard someone coming towards the room. Brushing tears off her cheeks, Dom entered, looking angry and limping. When he saw Brea and the tears on her cheeks, his expression softened.

"What's wrong?" He asked, going to his dresser and pulling out clothes.

"Like you don't know." Brea glared up at Dom, not even caring about why he was limping. "How could you do that? And with her of all people! Why Dom?" She was now standing in front of him, crying again.

"What are you talking about?" Dom demanded, dropping his clothes on the floor.

"I saw you kiss her Dom. You weren't even trying to keep her away from you." She told him, brushing angrily at the tears. "How long has this been going on?"

"You mean with Julianna? Are you serious?" He demanded, staring down at Brea and saw that she had seen them kiss and she was not kidding. "The kiss meant absolutely nothing. She forced herself on to me and just so you know, I was trying to keep her away." When Brea remained silent, Dom raised an eyebrow. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"No, I can't say that I do..." Brea said softly, staring at the ground.

"Brea, you have to. I didn't want to kiss Julianna. You're supposed to trust me." He said, placing his hands on her shoulders, trying to look into her eyes; she struggled against his hold and at last pushed him away from her.

"Just...just leave me alone." Brea wrapped her arms around her, staring at Dom. "I need air..." With that, she turned on her heel and strode from the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

"I love you..." Dom whispered at the closed door, shaking his head, he snatched up his clothes and shuffled away in the direction of the privy.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

**A/N: I know some of you are probably plotting my untimely demise, but I'm sorry. I've been stuck with no ideas for awhile...this was the first one that came to me...so I went with it. But, you know (or at least I know) they will be kissing and making up in the next chapter, so put the plans away and my next one will be coming up very shortly. Promise. And this one is shorter than normal, because I was just trying to get it up as fast as possible.**


	10. Evil

A/N: Woot...I'm getting better at updating. And just so you know, the character Mikol in this chapter, his name is actually pronounced Micheal. My friend spells his name that way, so I just stole it from him. Hehehe.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

Brea's angered walk led her to the stables, where she walked among the stalls, finally slipping into Whisper's.

"Hey girl." She murmured softly, rubbing Whisper's nose. "Why does this always happen to us? It seems like every time things are good between me and Dom, something happens to screw it up." In response to her words, Whisper gave a soft neigh, nudging Brea's arm with her nose, as if understanding what she said. Then again, that might have also been because Brea was carrying an apple. "Okay you mooch, here." She said and handed over the apple. "I wish uncle Raoul was still here..."

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

After Brea had walked out of the room, Dom had limped off into the privy to bathe. Granted, he should have gone after Brea first, but even he was starting to get grossed out by how bad he smelled. Now that he smelled a lot better than he had, he struggled into clean clothes and sat down on his bed to yank on his boots.

"Time to go find Brea. She is probably in the stables." He murmured to himself and limped out of the room. With each step he took, pain shot up his leg; he would have to see the healers tomorrow, but right now, Brea was the most important thing to him. So, biting back pain from his knee, Dom limped into the stables. As he was walking down the stalls he heard someone talking.

"...good between me and Dom, something happens to screw it up." Dom paused and listened, he knew that voice, it was Brea. He heard Whisper neigh and smiled to himself. "Okay you mooch, here." Still smiling, he started towards the direction of Brea's voice. "I wish uncle Raoul was still here..." Dom was now at the open door of the stall and he paused before going in. He knew that Brea was still hurting over the death of Raoul, which is why she had reacted the way she did. It made sense that she didn't want to suffer another heartbreak so soon. He felt stupid now.

"Should I get down on my knees and grovel for your forgiveness, or do you have something else in mind?" Dom asked quietly, causing Brea to whirl around and stare. "I would prefer not having to get on my knees though...they hurt."

"What did you do to them?" Brea asked softly, taking a few steps towards her.

"Good question. I do not know. They started hurting after practice today." He responded, holding a hand out to her. Taking a deep breath, Brea placed her hand in Dom's and he pulled her into a hug. "I truly am sorry, I didn't want to kiss Julianna. She forced herself on me."

"Dom...I...I believe you. I'm sorry for not trusting you." Brea murmured, burying her face in Dom's shirt. "You smell funny." She commented as she raised her face from his shirt. They both started laughing.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

The following morning, Brea was out on the fields well before sunrise and, because Julianna was evil and could what she wanted, she had Brea out in the fields at sunrise every morning for the rest of the week. Thinking that maybe a little bit of extra 'exercise' would do her some good.

"You brought this all upon yourself, Goldenlake." Julianna called out from her spot on the fence. "If you could only keep your mouth shut and control your temper, you wouldn't be out here."

"Oh shut up already...your voice is annoying." Brea mumbled under her breath and glared at Julianna. She had heard the same thing for the past three days.

"Okay. Get to breakfast, and don't be late coming back." Julianna said and Brea gave a sigh of relief, starting inside and to the Mess Hall.

"That woman's death is near." Brea muttered to a few of the riders she had befriended, slamming the tray down.

"You smell funny." Commented Mikol, holding his nose; there was a glimmer of mischief in his black eyes.

"Shut up." Brea growled and chunked a roll at his head. "But seriously, she is, just so...aggravating."

"Brea, we have dealt with the Warlord longer than you, we are aware of how evil she is. All you have to do, and can do, is grit your teeth and bare it." Rebekah told her, ducking a roll that was aimed at her head by Mikol.

"Has she ever made any of you get out on the fields before sunrise for three days in a row?" Brea demanded and her question was answered with shaking heads. "I think she has it out for me especially."

"What do you expect? You are with Dom; she is in love with Dom and has been for quite a few years now. To her, you are an enemy, that needs to be dealt with like any other Tortallan enemy." Rebekah paused to finish chewing her food. "Break them down and then destroy them."

"And she also fails to notice that even after her evil plan worked, Dom still didn't want to be with her." Mikol commented and was shot a venomous look by Rebekah.

"Mik! You dolt! You weren't supposed to say anything." Rebekah snapped, pegging a roll off the top of his head.

"It slipped, I'm sorry."

"What are you two talking about?" Brea asked, feeling her heart beat faster. Rebekah and Mikol exchanged looks. "Tell me." She commanded, narrowing her eyes at them.

"Okay...when you and Dom first broke up, remember how you found him and Julianna?" Rebekah asked, trying to figure how best to explain everything.

"Well duh, and that is definitely not another sight I ever want to see again." Brea muttered, shaking her head. "Her. Not him. Anyway, continue."

"Julianna planned that. She talked Cleon into kissing you when they got back from...wherever they were. Dom heading back to his room earlier than expected and seeing you kissing Cleon wasn't part of her devious plan, but it worked in her favor. But, the whole 'getting Dom drunk of his ass and then sleeping with him,' was part of that twisted plan." Rebekah explained, watching the anger actually boil up on Brea's face.

"So she planned the break-up?" Brea asked, fighting to remain calm.

"Yep. Every last bit of it. I'm guessing she kind of left it up to fate and the fact that you hadn't seen Dom in two months that you would walk in on them." Mikol answered, shoveling down the last part of Brea's breakfast, as she had lost her appetite and pushed the plate away.

"How do you two know about this?"

"We overheard her planning it. We didn't want to tell you, because we didn't want you to know. Mr. Can't Keep A Secret, kind of ruined it." Rebekah then proceeded to bounce another uneaten roll off his head; it bounced all right and landed on the table behind them. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Just plotting Julianna's death." Brea murmured, still fighting to remain calm.

"That's what I wanted to hear." Mikol gave her a wolfish grin and him and Rebekah scooted in closer. "What do you have in mind?"

**------**

As soon as Mikol was done shoveling down the rest of Rebekah and Brea's leftovers, the trio left the Mess Hall and started back out to the fields. Julianna was there already, along with a very agitated Buri. The two women seemed to be arguing over something. Looking up, Buri saw that Brea had arrived and abruptly ended the heated discussion.

"Brea. Over here, please. I need to speak with you." Buri said and Brea sighed, following her to a fence. They stood in silence for a moment. "I request to be informed about any behavior problems the leaders have with people in their groups. So if the problem persists, even with punishment, I can deal with them." She paused for a moment, turning her fierce gaze on Brea. "Julianna has informed me that you have been disrupting practice and training. You have also been disrespecting her in front of other members of the group."

"She deserves it. She calls me out every damn chance she gets and it's tiring, not to mention annoying. Everyday she is ragging on me." Brea retorted, knowing that she shouldn't have opened her mouth, but it was to late now; once she got going, she didn't stop. "She even refers to me as Lady Big Mouth. I've been out here every damn day before sunrise, doing 'exercise' that she thinks will help with my attitude problem."

"From what she has told me, you do deserve it." Buri said, starting to get unsettled about the whole situation. She knew she shouldn't trust anything Julianna said, but would be going against her word if she didn't at least ask questions.

"She is lying Buri and right to your face." Brea snapped, trying to keep her temper under control.

"You promise me that the only reason you are getting yourself in trouble, is because Julianna starts it?" Buri questioned one more time.

"Buri, you know me, I don't fight back, unless I'm provoked first. She started it."

"If I get anymore complaints, I will be taking matters into my own hands." Buri said as Julianna walked over, but only Brea saw the wink. "Am I understood?"

"Yes." Brea murmured, pretending to look crushed and beaten by Buri's 'scolding.' Sighing, she turned on her heel and walked back to Rebekah and Mikol.

"What was that about?" Rebekah asked as they headed off in the direction of the stables.

"The Warlord being a tattle-tale." Was Brea's response and she glared daggers at Julianna.

"She does that often. Especially to me." Mikol grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "How exactly do you plan on getting this evil plan of yours to work?"

"I have my ways of making her life hell. Just like she has hers." Brea responded and jogged away from her friends, headed for the stables.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

Dinnertime found Dom eating with the newly engaged Kel and Neal (a/n: had to put that in). He didn't want to be with them, considering they were in the process of playing a game of footsie and Dom's foot was in between them, but it was really only the free table.

"Could you two knock that off? Please?" He demanded, jerking his foot out of the way and reminding himself to disinfect it tonight.

"Sorry Dom." Kel said, thwacking the laughing Neal on the head. Glaring at his cousin, he noticed Brea walk into the Hall and waved her over to the table. A few minutes later she was walking towards them, food in hand.

"Hello Neal, Kel." Brea greeted and sat next to Dom, greeting him with a kiss. "Hi."

"Okay, what do you want?" Dom asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Can I not kiss you and be accused of wanting something." She retorted, a look of pure innocence on her face.

"Brea. I'm eating. You never kiss me when were eating." Dom paused a moment, before continuing. "Come to think of it, you haven't kissed me like that in a good few days. So spill Breanna, what do you want?"

"Okay firstly, don't use my full name. Only my mother does." Brea muttered and poked him brutally in the thigh. "Secondly, I just want your help to extract a little bit of revenge on Julianna." Kel, Neal, and Dom all stopped eating and stared at Brea like she had completely lost her marbles.

"Is this because she has had you out in the fields every morning way before sunrise?" Asked Kel with a raised eyebrow.

"Or is it because she got you in trouble with Buri?" Neal asked, a glimmer of mischief in his green eyes.

"You got in trouble with Buri?" Dom glanced at Brea, who didn't respond, but she instead looked at Neal and Kel.

"How did you two know about that?"

"Her maid knows everything." Neal responded with a grin and went back to his dinner.

"Okay, so maybe it is because she told on me to Buri and has been absolutely horrid to me since I got put in her group. I at least have good intentions." Brea muttered and stuck her tongue out at Neal.

"So getting revenge on Julianna, that's your definition of good intentions?" Dom asked, a slight smirk worn on his face.

"Yes, it is, because she deserves it." Brea suddenly remembered her conversation with Mikol and Rebekah at breakfast. "And plus, she is just getting what is coming to her...she sabotaged us..."

"What are you talking about?" Dom asked, ignoring the looks Neal and Kel were giving each other. They began to stand up and were gone before Brea and Dom realized it. "Were alone now, so talk." He turned to face her on the bench.

"I found out today that Julianna planned the first break-up between us." She told him quietly, staring down at her uneaten food; once more, she had lost her appetite and pushed the plate away from her. "Everything, even me kissing Cleon."

"How do you know that?" He asked, pulling her across the two feet space between them and into a hug.

"Mikol and Rebekah overheard her talking about it. They didn't tell me, but Mikol let it slip this morning at breakfast." She said, leaning her head on his shoulder and glaring death at Julianna, who had just walked into the hall.

"So you want revenge because she has it out for you and completely destroyed our relationship?" Dom asked and saw Brea nod her head. "Sounds like a damn good reason to me. I'm pretty sure I can get Meathead to help us."

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

A/N: Hehehe...what evil idea does Brea have in mind for Julianna? That will have to wait until the next chapter. (it involves mud) And for anyone who is wondering...no, I do not like Cleon, because I just don't. For any of you who like Harry Potter, I've just started a new fanfic, just go to profile and you shall find it there.


	11. Mud Mud And more mud

**A/N: And here is chapter eleven! Nothing else to say here, other than this story will be ending very soon. Two more chapters left, which means the next one will be long. YAY! Sorries it's been taking me so long to update. Well, I've said enough, ON WITH THE STORY!**

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

Together, Neal and Brea walked slowly towards the castle; the mud that covered every inch of their bodies was slowly being rinsed away by the heavy downpour of rain. How exactly they had gotten into this position, neither of them knew.

Damn that vial Julianna woman...

As soon as they got inside, Neal and Brea wordlessly went their separate ways to get dried off and changed before they had to go to dinner. When she reached the room, she slipped in and headed straight for the privy. Wanting nothing more than to bathe and change into dry clothes, which she did. Feeling relatively human again, Brea walked from the privy, in clean and dry clothes and tied up her hair, laying back on the bed. She was so tired...

"Brea," called a quiet voice, shaking her shoulder. "Brea, wake up." Slowly her eyes opened and her blurry vision slowly focused back into view.

"Wha?" She mumbled sleepily and sat up. "How long was I sleeping for?"

"You slept past dinner." Dom told her and sat down on the bed. "I went there after being with the Own and Neal said you never showed up. Guess you could say I got a bit worried."

"Oh. No. I'm fine." Brea said, while also attempting to cover a yawn. Dom kissed her on the forehead and stood up to change.

"So, tell me what happened with the prank." He tugged off his shirt and glanced at Brea, who had flopped back down on the bed, hands over her face.

"That was a nightmare..."

**-X-X-X-X-HOURS EARLIER-X-X-X-X-**

Brea trudged out onto the field, wearing a very pleased grin. Why was she so happy? Because it had rained heavily the night, making the ground nice and muddy for her prank on Julianna. Who truly deserved to be dumped in pigpen, but there wasn't one of those near the practice fields; mud would have to do.

A light drizzle began to fall as she walked into the stables to saddle up Whisper. From a stall across from hers, she could make out giggles and sighs, obviously two lovers who didn't want to be caught. To bad Brea knew exactly who it was.

"Knock it off you two!" She shouted, banging on the stable door; it creaked open slightly so she could make out the forms of Mikol and Rebekah. Though, from where she was standing, they looked like two people melted together. "Don't you two see each other enough at night? I mean really, your rooms are right beside each other."

"Is someone grumpy?" Rebekah asked in as much of a baby voice as she could muster at the moment; she was still quite giggly. She emerged from the stall smoothing her wrinkled clothes and then started on straightening her hair.

"Sure seems like it." Mikol muttered as he too emerged from the stall and fixed his disheveled hair and clothes.

"Actually I am quite happy, thank you very much." Brea retorted and stuck her tongue out at her two friends, as she placed the saddle on Whisper.

"Oh. That's right. Today is the day you're going to pull of the prank." Rebekah remembered with a sneaky smile. "Is Neal going to be here?"

"Yes. He made up some lame story about coming down to help us train and Julianna, being as stupid as she is, believed him." Brea snickered, tightening the saddle straps to make sure she wouldn't fall off. Their conversation would've gone on longer, except the Devil herself walked into the stables that moment.

"Enough talking, get out on the fields." She snapped, glaring at anybody who dared to give her a questioning look. "Leave the horses and get out on the fields. Were going for a run." Rebekah, Mikol and Brea did as they were told and left the stables as quickly as they could, waiting until they were on the fields to say anything.

"What the hell. We ran all damn day yesterday." Brea growled angrily, stretching her body in ways that would cause the guys in their group massive amounts of pain in certain areas.

"She's probably just pissy about something and decides that she can take it out on us." Mikol suggested as him and Rebekah started to stretch. Running required them to do so or they would fall behind and get yelled at by Julianna.

Grumbling under her breath, Brea continued to stretch until Julianna rode from the stables, perched atop none other than Brea's Whisper. The only other person to ride her had been Dom and Whisper didn't like anyone else.

"Get off of her!" Brea shouted, jumping up from the grass and walking towards Julianna. It was at that precise moment that Neal chose to walk out onto the field.

"Excuse me?" Julianna retorted, dismounting from Whisper and walking towards Brea. This required pne to be graceful or you would fall, face first, into a muddy puddle.

"I said, get off of her. That is my horse, therefore my property." Brea snapped, narrowing her blue/grey eyes at Julianna.

"Who made you the boss? You have no authority over me and whether you like it or not, I'm going to be riding your horse today." Julianna was now standing maybe five inches from Brea and was towering over her. That was it! Brea had had enough of this woman and her to-big ego. Unaware of what had come over her, she tackled Julianna into a big puddle of mud. This caused everyone around them to either cry out and question Brea's sanity (What the hell are you thinking?) or just laugh and applaud her (Good job!). "Goldenlake!"

"Yes?" Brea sat up and shook mud and water from her face. Ew. Ew. Ew. Who knew how many bugs were crawling around.

"You're going to pay for that!" Julianna growled and they began to fight. Unfortunately for Brea, Julianna was alot stronger than she let on and had her pinned in the mud and was choking her in about five seconds flat.

"Julianna!" Neal cried out and ran towards the two women. To bad when he attempted to pry Julianna away from Brea, he wound up right next to them in the mud. He groaned and sat up, that's when the real struggle began. Neal trying to get Julianna to release her vicious hold on Brea's airway and Brea herself, simply gasping for every breath. "You're going to kill her!"

"Good!" Was Julianna's angry response.

"Mikol! Some help would be nice!" Neal snapped and he nodded, running over. Together, they managed to get Julianna off Brea and the rest of the group made sure she was ushered away. Neal carefully helped Brea, who was still trying to even out her breathing, to sit up. "Are you alright?"

"I...think...so." Brea managed to talk in-between gasping for air. "That...wh-"

"Stop talking and just breath." He commanded and for a few minutes there was silence between them; Brea could feel the mud on her hair and skin hardening the longer she sat there. "You alright now?"

"Yeah." Was Brea's quiet response; she could feel something nudging her in the back and she glanced up to see Whisper staring down at her. "I'm alright girl." The horse tossed her golden head and backed away to give Brea room to stand.

"Let's get you inside." Neal muttered and stood up, then helped Brea to stand.

"But...But..."

"No, you aren't practicing today and I'm going to talk to Buri and see if she can get you our of this group. This is far enough."

"Neeeal."

"Brea, the woman just tried to kill you! I think it's safe to say Dom wouldn't want you in this situation more than I do."

"Fine." Brea huffed and together they started towards the palace. That's when the rain began to fall and silence fell between them.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

"Julianna tried to kill you!" Dom asked and stared down at Brea, who still sat on the edge of the bed; now that he looked at her, he could see bruises on her neck in the shape of hands.

"Yes, she did. Thank the gods that Neal and Mikol were there." Brea muttered and curled up against Dom, who had yet to bathe; she just wanted a hug.

"You should really talk to Buri. This can't go on any longer." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head; he couldn't understand why Brea was taking this so calmly. She was almost killed and made it sound like it happened everyday!

"I know." She murmured and was just about to give Dom a kiss when someone knocked on the door. "You go bathe, I'll see who it is." With that, she stood from the bed and walked from the bedroom, shutting the door behind her, then crossed the sitting room and opened that door. "Hello Buri."

"Brea. Can I come in?" She asked and Brea nodded, standing aside to make room. They got comfortable on couches across from each other and there was silence. "I was informed, by more than one person I might add, what happened today on the fields. Explain yourself."

"Your making it sound like it was all my fault. Julianna was riding my horse. I don't know what planet everyone else is from, but Whisper is my property, no one else has the right to ride her."

"Is that why you knocked her into the mud and then tried to kill her?"

"What!" Brea shouted angrily, which caused Buri to jump.

"Isn't that what happened?"

"Hell no."

"Then what did?"

"Okay, I tackled her into the mud after she said she was going to be riding Whisper. The only other person to be on her, besides myself, was Dom." She paused and ran a hand through her hair. "That's when she said I was going to pay and started to choke me. I have the bruises to prove it." Moving a curtain of hair from her neck, she showed Buri the bruises on her neck, which had been cause by Julianna trying to strangle her. "Believe me now?"

"Yes." Buri smacked herself in the forehead. "I was told by a flood of people that you tried to kill her."

"I like to call those people Julianna Supporters. They are all brainless idiots." Sighing, Brea glanced at Buri. "I can't stand to be in her group anymore Buri. Today she tries to kill me, wonder what will happen tomorrow."

"I know. I know." She bit her lip and thought for a moment. "Look, the King Jonathon is sending out three groups of riders, among them Julianna's, a group of the Own, and a handful of knights. Haven has been having trouble with a particularly bad group of bandits. Once you all return from there, I will see to it that you will be moved."

"When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning." Buri stood up and started for the door. "Be in the fields before dawn. You ride out then." Brea nodded and Buri disappeared.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

**A/N: Before anyone asks, no...I do not like Julianna. She was created for the sole purpose that everyone is allowed to hate her. Reviews would be much appreciated and welcomed, plzthnx. XD**


	12. I'M BACK Even though I never really left

**WOW!!!!!**

**So, the first that I want to say, is that I am so very sorry times a billion to the fifth power for not updating this story in a decade. In June, we moved to Mississippi and I got caught up in getting everything organized for school and all that junk. Well, our internet accounts also got switched over. Well...when I went to change my screenname on FF, I kind of forgot the password for my new e-mail address.**

**BIG MISTAKE!!**

**So I've been sitting here for quite a few weeks (actually, it's been months). And I have been writing, but I still have to tweak the story quite a bit. It should be up within a few days. To the people who haven't completely given up hope on this story, thanks so much. Muah.**

**-throws cookies and leaves-**


	13. Revenge isn't so sweet

**A/N: Alrighty then, here is chapter thirteen of this wonderful story. There is a HUGE twist in it, but please, don't hate me until you finish the whole story. Again, sorry it took me so long to get it up. Enough of me talking, ON WITH THE STORY!! XD.**

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- **

Brea sighed as their long precession finally arrived at Haven. Lately, they had been having problems with a nasty group of bandits and called on the castles help with them. King Johnathon had sent out Groups Twelve, Sixteen, and Fifteen of the Riders, a group of thirty men from the King's Own and a few knights as well, Kel and Neal included.

"Goldenlake." Julianna called out, glancing over her shoulder to peer at Brea.

"What?" She snapped, pulling her hair down and running her hands through it.

"Watch that tone." She threatened. "Come get my horse. Take it to the stables, unsaddle it, and brush her down. Don't forget to feed her either." The procession was quiet as they watched the two girls glare death at each other. Since the whole fiasco on the fields, the tension between them had grown to be as thick as porridge; many people couldn't even stand to be in the same room with them.

"Actually, Julianna, we have people here to do that." Kel spoke up, breaking the silence; she had already dismounted and her horse was being led away by a sleepy looking boy. They had arrived at late at night and several people in the refuge were sleeping soundly.

"I want her to do it." Julianna snapped, glaring at Kel as she dismounted from her horse.

"Like I said." Kel growled, stepping towards Julianna. "We have people here to do that. Leave Brea alone." After a few more minutes, Julianna decided it would be best not to piss off a knight, let alone Kel, so she turned and walked away.

"Kel, you didn't have to do that." Brea muttered, having also dismounted and tied her hair back up.

"Yeah, but I wanted to." She responded with a grin and then shouted orders for everyone to get to bed, so they would be well-rested for the morning.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

Dom shook his head and dismounted from his horse. He should've talked Brea out of that stupid prank, even if it hadn't gone off as planned, what had happened almost cost Brea her life. Guilt liked to follow him around all the time now.

"Dom. You alright?" Asked one of his men, jolting him from his thoughts.

"Yes, I'm fine." Dom replied, shaking his head. "Get some rest, we got alot to do tomorrow." The assembled men nodded and together, started for the barracks, where room had already been cleared for them to sleep. Glancing around, he saw Kel showing Brea around the camp and smiled slightly, before starting in the direction of the room they were supposed to share. He dropped their bags on the floor and collapsed backwards on the bed. In his pocket, he could make out the faint outline of a ring...the ring meant for Brea.

Yes, that's right, Domitan of Masbolle, was going to asked Brea to marry him. He had been working up the courage all day...and finally settled on asking her tomorrow. The door cracked open and Dom sat up right as Brea walked in the room.

"I was wondering where you went." Brea walked towards him and placed a light kiss on his lips.

"Well, Kel was showing you around and I already know this place like the back of my hand. So, I came here." Dom replied and pulled her down on the bed beside him. "You know I love you, right? Even though at times I screw up and act like a neanderthal. You still know...right?"

"Of course I do." Brea ran a hand through his hair, smiling. "Why are you asking?"

"I just needed to be reassured." With that said, Dom kissed Brea and lay back on the bed with her, a hand slipping under her shirt.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Brea! Dom!" This shout was followed by three more bangs on their door. Mumbling curses to the person banging on the door, Brea wrapped a bed sheet around her and, stumbling over clothes and the bags that were still on the floor, made her way to the door, throwing it open.

"What?!" She snapped, seeing that the obnoxious, door-banging person, was Neal.

"I was instructed to wake you two up." He smirked and took in Brea's bed sheet, turned robe/dress. "Was I interrupting something...important?"

"Neal!" Brea snapped and proceded to slam the door in his face; by that time, there had been enough banging and shouting, that Dom was awake. "I'm going to kill your cousin." She muttered to him as she grabbed a bag and walked to the privy.

"He won't be sorely missed!" Dom called to her and could've sworn he heard faint laughter. A few minutes later she returned and he stood up, walking in after her to wash up and get dressed. Plopping down on the bed, Brea began to pull on her boots while she waited for Dom to finish up. Since Dom was taking longer than she expected him too, Brea began to pick up the clothes that littered the floor. As she snatched up a pair of breeches, Dom's to be exact, she heard something hit the floor and bounce to land at the foot of the desk.

"What in the world..." She murmured to herself and bent to pick up the small, silver object. Inspecting it, she realized that it was ring that just so happened to fit, not perfectly, on the ring finger of her left hand; her breath caught in her throat. Did that mean...? Surely not!

"Brea!" Dom called from the bathroom, jolting her back into reality. She slipped the ring into her own pocket and turned to stare at the head protruding from the privvy door.

"Let me guess, you went in there without your clothes." Brea commented and he nodded his head. Laughing, she bent over to grab his bag and passed it to him. Mumbling a thanks, he retreated back into the bathroom. "Hurry up! I'm hungry!" She called out, pulling the ring from her pocket and just sort of staring at it. For some reason, she wasn't exactly sure if she should be happy or just a tad bit confused.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

They had been at the camp for no more than two and a half weeks when Brea felt her body going through a change of sorts. It wasn't the usual one she had every month. No...this one was much different. Every morning, she was awake and vomitting. At meals, she had the weirdest cravings. Then, vomitted again. It seemed to be all she was doing, was throwing up.

"I think you really need to see Neal about this. There could be something seriously wrong with you." Dom was telling her for the fifteenth time as they sat in bed and Brea was fighting the urge to jump up and run outside to throw up again. It was to damn cold for that.

"I know I need to see Neal, but I've been out patrolling almost every day since we have been here. Between that, and vomitting, and actually being able to hold down my food, it's hard to find time to even look at Neal, let alone get him to examine me for an unknown sickness." Brea muttered and looked up at Dom. One look at him and she stuck her tongue out at him, laying her head back down on the pillow. "Alright. Alright. I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"Glad you saw it my way." Dom replied with a chuckle and kissed her on the head, before extinguishing the candle and they drifted asleep.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

Neal stared at Brea and sighed, hands braced on his hips and an eyebrow raised. Why exactly she was in to see him, when nothing was physically wrong with her, he didn't know.

"Mind telling me whats wrong?" He asked, and sat on the stool beside the examination table.

"Just been throwing up alot lately. Weird food cravings. And I have not been able to hold down much of my food." Brea explained, swinging her legs back and forth.

"That doesn't sound good. Lay back for me." Neal commanded and had to gently prod Brea to get her to lay down. "Try not moving around to much."

"Whatver." Brea muttered and tapped her fingers on top of the table; it's not that she was nervous or anything. Actually, that was a lie, she really was nervous. What if she really was sick and was dying or something? Or if she became crippled? A few tears slipped out of her eyes and she quickly snapped them shut.

"Um...Brea, can you open your eyes and look at me. Please?" He asked, shaking her arm and she did as she was told, opening her eyes to see that he looked troubled about something.

"How bad is it?"

"Well actually..."

"Neal, just tell me already and don't make me wait any longer. But be gentle."

"Brea...you...your um..."

"What?"

"Your pregnant."

"WHAT?!" Brea screeched and sat up so fast, and unexpectedly, that her elbow connected with Neal's nose and she didn't even hear the sound of breaking bone. Her mind was going about a thousand miles a minute. How could she be pregnant? They had been so careful...or wait...no way! It just couldn't be true.

"Gods Brea!" Neal groaned, holding a hand to his nose to stop the flow of blood, which seemed to be never-ending; it only took him a few more minutes of pain to force him to heal it.

"It wasn't on purpose!" Brea cried, shaking her head. "I told you to be gentle!"

"I was gentle, you're the one who broke my nose, for Gods sake!" Standing up, Neal went to a basin of water and began to wash the blood off his face. "How are you going to tell Dom?"

"I don't know." Brea collapsed on the floor, knees pulled up to her chest and her face on her knees. "I just can't be pregnant...I can't..."

"Everythings going to be okay." Murmured Neal, squatting down beside her and pulling her into a hug, rubbing her back. "If you want, I will be there when you tell him." She lifted her tear-streaked face from her knees and shook her head.

"No. No. I will tell him tonight, before dinner."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive." Brea replied and Neal smiled, wiping away tears. He stood first, then held a hand out to her, which she accepted and allowed him to pull her to her feet. How in the world was she going to tell Dom about this?

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

Dom groaned as he shifted through the piles of dirty clothes that were located in random places around the room him and Brea shared. He was frantically searching, throwing clothes every which way over his shoulders. How could he lose it?

"What the hell did I do with that damn ring?" Dom told himself, running his hands through his hair. "I was going to do it tonight." He growled and once more resumed his search, not even aware that a certain pair of blue eyes were focused on him from the doorway.

"What were you going to do tonight, love?" Brea asked softly, and stepped fully into the room, shutting the door behind her. Dom whirled around and stared at her, smiling and dropping the clothes on the floor.

"Um...nothing." Dom replied and hugged her tightly, kissing her briefly on the lips, before she pulled away from him, looking around.

"You made a mess." She bent and began to gather up the clothes. "Looking for something?"

"Well...yes, bu..but no."

"Maybe I could help you look for it?"

"No, that's alright. I'm sure the blasted thing will turn up eventually."

"Right." Brea deposited the clothes she had picked up in a corner and turned to face him. "Is this what you were looking for?" She asked softly, pulling the ring from her pocket and showing it to him. He took it from her with a relieved look.

"Where did you find this?" Dom asked, dropping it on the desk and walking towards her.

"The first morning we were here, I was picking up the clothes and it fell out."

"Oh." Dom muttered and the silence fell between them; he picked the ring up off the desk and stepped closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I wanted to wait until tonight, but now is as good a time as ever."

"Dom...what are you talking about?"

"Brea, I love you and I have always loved you." Dom started, smiling and taking her left hand in his. "I want you to be my wife, forevermore."

"I don't know what to say..."

"Say yes."

"Okay, then yes." Brea threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, smiling. He pulled away and they kissed briefly. That was when her thoughts wandered to what happened earlier that day with Neal. "Now it's my turn, I need to tell you something." She backed up until she was sitting on the bed and pulled Dom down on the bed with her. "I went to see Neal today and...well..."

"What?" Dom's expression turned from happiness to concern.

"Well...it turns out that there is nothing seriously wrong with me." Brea started and took a deep breath. "But...um...we will be expecting a little one in nine months or so." The color immediately drained from Dom's face.

"You're pregnant?!" Dom asked flabergasted and looked back and forth between Brea's face and her stomach.

"At least your reaction was better than mine. I broke Neal's nose in the process." She told him and put her hands to his face, making him look at her. "Dom, please for the love of the Gods, say something. Anything."

"What are we going to name it? He? She?" Dom smiled and hugged her tightly.

"So, you're okay with this?" Brea asked cautiously, biting her lip, but still smiling.

"More than okay." Dom replied and kissed her deeply.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

Not to long after Dom proposed to Brea and she told him that she was pregnant, the whole camp was buzzing with the news. It seemed that everyone wanted to come up and touch her stomach and she wasn't even starting to show for gods sake! But, they seemed to think she was. The only person who wasn't happy for her and Dom, was Julianna, but that was to be expected. After awhile, Kel had her taken off patrolling duty in the woods and put on gate guard. It wasn't what she wanted to do, but she didn't dare argue.

"How are you feeling?" Dom whispered in her ear, arm wrapped around her as they lay in the dark.

"Fine." Brea replied and coughed, falling into an uneasy sleep. She couldn't help but feel that something was going to happen. It was a gut instinct that she didn't bode well with. They had only been asleep for about two hours when there was a loud banging on the door. Cursing under his breath, Dom got out of bed and threw open the door, sending it crashing into the wall. Cold air rushed in and Brea curled up under the blankets, oblivious to all outside noises.

"What is it, Neal?" Dom asked sleepily, noticing people running around crazily.

"The bandits. They attacked and are getting ready to do it again. Six of our own are already dead and there is at least four more injured." He explained breathlessly. "It appears they have far more people than we knew about. You and Brea both are needed. Hurry." Turning, his cousin rushed away and Dom shut the door, going back to the bed.

"Brea, get up." He instructed, shaking her shoulders. "The bandits are attacking." Once the words were out of his mouth, Brea was up and groping around in the dark for clothes, the ring bouncing against her chest; she had almost lost it three times, and now it hung on a silver chain around her neck. It didn't take them to long to get ready and soon enough, they were leaving. "Whatever happens to us, I always love you."

"Dom...do not speak like that." Brea shook her head, but was cut off by a brief kiss. "I love you too." She replied before they went their seperate ways. Brea ran to meet up with Mikol and Rebekah and the rest of the Rider Groups.

"There you are, Goldenlake. It took you long enough to get here." Snarled Julianna, shaking her head as they awaited orders.

"Stuff it." Brea growled back and shook her head, fighting the sudden urge to throw up. As they stood around, listening to people rushing around, they were given orders to escort the women who couldn't fight, children, and disabled people out of the refuge so they didn't become innocent bystanders in the coming battle.

"Brea, are you sure you should be about here? I mean, you are a month and a half pregnant." Rebekah pointed out, boosting a three year old girl onto her hip and grabbing the hand of another little girl. Brea was in the same situation.

"If this is all I'm going to be doing, then I have absolutely nothing to worry about. Plus, like you said, I am only a month and a half pregnant." Brea replied and coughed, starting out of the secret exit in the stable.

"Exactly, you could lose the baby with just one wrong hit. It happened to my mother three times. I think her midwife called it a miscarriage."

"Bekah, knock it off, I'm going to be fine."

"Alright. I'll stop bugging you."

"Good." They continued their trek to the safe spot and deposited the children with their parents, before going back to escort more people. It wasn't very much fun, especially since they had to keep the children from being scared and keeping them from crying. Brea wasn't entirely sure she was up for motherhood after carrying crying babies from Haven to the middle of the woods. With dawn quickly approaching, there was still no second attack from the bandits. "What do you think happened?" Brea croaked as her, Rebekah, and Mikol sat under a group of trees, huddled together eating cheese and bread.

"Maybe they were scared off." Rebekah suggested, on the edge of falling asleep.

"Or they are just waiting for us to let our guard down to attack." Mikol also pointed out; he had his moments where he only saw the glass as half-empty. Brea glared and hit his leg as there were people nearby them, listening.

"Stop talking like that. These people are already creeped out enough." She scolded him, and then put her back to the tree, closing her eyes against the brilliant sunlight creeping over the horizon; Brea could hear there was a few babies crying and that Mikol and Rebekah were now arguing, but trying to be as quiet as possible. Being so tired and completely out of it, she didn't realize that she had fallen asleep, that there was no longer a threat of being attacked, or that Dom had picked her up off of the ground and taken her back to their room and she slept until it was dinner time.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

Dom was in the stables, rubbing down his horse. Neal was with Brea, checking her over to make sure that there was nothing going wrong with the baby. Just seven more months and he was going to be a father. It was a weird concept to grasp.

Since the first scare with the bandits, there had been one just like that every single day for the past four days. Everyday, there was another casuality...or five. It seemed as if the bandits were very slowly picking off any of the soldiers they came up against. Once they finally decided to give a full on attack, the odds would be in favor of the bandits.

"Something on your mind?" Kel asked quietly, coming up behind him.

"No, just thinking." Dom replied, dropping the brush on the floor as he had thoroughly brushed the horse three times.

"About what? If you don't mind telling me."

"Well, mainly about Brea and the baby. It's just weird. We aren't married and for Gods sake, we haven't even started to think about the wedding itself. This is all moving faster than I would like for it to."

"Dom, you and Brea will get through this. You have the support of everyone at castle, minus Julianna, because she is a bitter wench." Dom laugh out loud and shook his head. Kel's soon happy expression changed to one of concern. "Brea needs you more than you think."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she is scared, Dom. I've known Brea for quite a few years and there are very few things that can spook her, but this is one of them. She is scared of not being a good mother or, and this is Rebekah speaking, that she will lose the baby. I rarely, if ever, see her on duty or doing anything other than helping the refuges." Kel knawed on her bit lip and sighed. "And she told me that she's been having these nightmares. Some are about the bandits attacking and killing everyone. Others are about the baby dying in birth. And one in particular..."

"I knew she was having nightmares. She wakes up in the middle of the night, panicked and then leaves and doesn't come back until just before dawn." Dom crossed his arms over his chest. "What is the other one about?"

"That you walk away before the baby is born and that you marry Julianna."

"She's mad!"

"No, she's not Dom, she is worried." Kel put a hand on his arm, trying to calm down.

"But Brea knows that I would never do that to her. I love her more than anything in this whole world. I learned my lesson once and I'm not going to break her heart again."

"Deep down, she knows that, which is probably why she will not tell you about this."

"Then why did you tell me?"

"Because she never told me not to and I felt like you should know." Kel replied with a crooked smile and pulled him into a hug.

"I will talk to her later on tonight. After dinner." Dom replied and with Kel, they started out of the stables and to the mess hall where they joined Brea and Neal. Dom greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. "How is the baby?"

"Fine. Neal says there seems to be no complications and it should be born around Midwinter." Brea replied, simply poking at her food as she wasn't all that hungry.

"Then why do you look so bummed?" He asked, squeezing her hand underneath the table.

"I'm not bummed, just tired." She told him and forced a smile; he looked at her suspiciously, before going back to eating. "Actually...um...I think I'm going to go lie down." Standing up, she kissed Dom on the cheek before leaving. Dom, Neal, and Kel ate in silence until Neal threw down his fork, shaking his head.

"I could care less if Brea is going to kill me, I have to tell you." He blurted out and gestured Dom to move closer so no one overheard. "Brea is two months along now and well, while I was examining her again, I found out that she is pregnant with not one, but two babies."

"Twins?" Dom asked, feeling the same way he did when he thought it was only one baby. Now there was two?!

"Yes, twins. Brea broke my nose again when I told her." He muttered and put a light hand to his nose, which was still sensitive to touch. "She probably will not tell you. She was so freaked when I told her."

"No, you're right. She will not." Dom put down his fork and sighed heavily. Before any of them could say anything else an alarm was being rung and peolpe were rushing around everywhere. Apparently, the bandits were attacking again, but this time for real. The three of them jumped up simultaneously and began following the group of people out of the hall. Neal made for the Healers wing, where he was sure that there would be a flood of people coming in no time.

"Dom, you have to go get Brea. You know she can sleep through anything." Kel ordered and found that he wasn't moving. Putting her hands on his back, she pushed him towards the part of the fort where everyone slept. "GO!" Dom nodded and started moving, weaving throughout the already panicking people. He heard the man in charge of them yelling for him to turn around and come back, but he ignored him. Caring more about Brea than getting in trouble.

"Brea!" He shouted, throwing open the door and found her sound asleep on the bed. Walking towards her, he shook her shoulder. "Hey. Get up."

"Why?" Brea murmured sleepily and turned over to face him.

"The bandits, they are attacking again, we have to get out there." He replied and she nodded, slowly getting out of bed and starting to dress. Once she was done and had her sword buckled on, they started out of the room.

"Goldenlake!" Screeched a voice behind them, making them turn. Julianna sprinted towards them from the end of the hallway, several people following her. "We have to get moving. Were needed on the front."

"Okay." Murmured Brea and turned around to face Dom; giving him a kiss, she then broke away and started down the hall with Julianna. Soon after, he was swept away by his own men. There was already a skermish in progress, between the refugee soldiers and the bandits, they were the reinforcements.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

"ARROWS! TAKE COVER!" The shout rang up around the camp and people hurried to get under cover. Soon after that, there were several shouts of pain issued from around Brea. Not even half awake and she was fighting for her life and the lives of hundreds of others. Damn these bandits. She could just barely make out Dom, who was currently locked in battle with a scruffy looking man, who was about fourty.

"Gods be with you." She whispered and once more had to readjust her position as there was a sudden cramp in her leg.

"Brea, we need to get moving. Kel wants us to try and push the remainding bandits into the fort." Rebekah whispered and together, the two of them crept along the line of people, telling them to start moving. Soon, all of group twelve, headed by Julianna and Brea who were keeping civil tongues around each other, were crawling into the forest.

----

Dom groaned as he pushed himself up off the ground, just in time to avoid being struck, and killed, by a sword. As he jumped up, he could see a flash of color out of the corner of his eye. That meant that the Rider Groups were already on their way to start pushing back the bandits into the fort. Why into the fort? Because just maybe, they could surround them completely and get them to surrender without much more slaughter.

"Dom! Watch it!" Shouted a man and Dom ducked just in time to avoid a fatal blow to his head. Grimacing, he focused all his attention on the matter at hand and in no time, the bandit was down, not dead, just down and not able to get back up. As much as he wanted to focus on just the bandits who were charging on them, part of him wanted to be with Brea so badly. He knew she was okay and that Julianna would not let any harm come to his bride-to-be, if only for the conceited reason that she didn't want to look bad.

----

"If I hear one more word, so help me Great Mother Goddess." Scowled Julianna, glaring at two of the younger males who were complaining of rather painful leg cramps. "Shut your mouth or I will have someone shut them for you." They nodded and sat quietly, but their faces were contorted in pain. "Kel says we have to wait for her signal to move."

"What exactly is this signal?" Brea whispered, poking out from behind the bushes. It didn't matter at all what the two women had against each other, when it came to innocent lives at stake, they put it all behind them.

"No idea. She said that we wo-" A loud BANG cut off the rest of Julianna's sentence and instantly captured the attention of the assembled Riders.

"Not to point out the obvious, but I think that was it." Rebekah muttered and gripped her sword even tighter, so that her knuckles were turning white.

"You are probably right. LET'S GO!" She shouted and everyone stood, charging after her. Some of the bandits were taken by surprise at the sudden attack and didn't even realize they were being surrounded. A few decided they would fight to the death, and they did. Kel strode forward, Neal close behind her.

"By the power of their royal majesties, King Jonathon and Queen Thayet, you will relinquish your weapons to us and surrender." She spoke in a demanding voice. It only took a few more prods in the back by some over eager soldiers and the bandits dropped all of their weapons. "You made the right choice; maybe now you will be sparred death and just rot in jail. I want all of the-" Another loud bang issued from inside the fort and everyone turned, just as people ran screaming and the entire rear end was engulfed completely in flames.

**----** **(a/n: this is where you are going to hate me. my apologies)**

It only took a second for Julianna's mind to go into overdrive and the adrenaline still pumping in her veins forced her to act. Breaking away from the circle, she started towards the fort.

"Goldenlake. Let's go." She called, stopping only briefly to turn and look at the girl, who was pale in the face and looked on the verge of passing out. Dom had his arm around her waist. The bandits were being arrested.

"What?" She muttered softly, looking confused.

"I said let's go, so move!" She barked once more and still didn't she any movement. "There could be other people still trapped in there, we need to hurry." There was a fleeting glance between Dom and Brea, before she broke away and started to run to catch up with Julianna. Dom started after them, but felt an arm on his wrist.

"Don't move. You are under my command. Brea has to listen to her." Kel murmured, watching them disappear through the front gate.

"Kel, the mad-woman is going to get them both killed." Dom said back and tried desperately to ignore the flip-flops that his stomach was doing. Something just wasn't right, he could feel it.

"I do not like her anymore than you do, but she has a reputation to protect. You know as well as I that she would not do a damn thing that would soil it." Shortly after Kel spoke and the rest of the bandits were arrested, there was another explosion, followed shortly by a scream.

"BREA!" Dom shouted and jerked away completely from Kel and Neal, who were trying to hold him back, with no avail. He ran towards the fort and another explosion threw him back into the solid ground. No...no...this wasn't happening.

**---- (a/n just so you know, this is what happens in the fort while they are talking)**

"What are you doing, Goldenlake? We have no time to be resting." Julianna barked over her shoulder, having noticed the young girl had stopped walking as they were crossing a catwalk. Hands braced on her knees, she fought to catch her breath. She shouldn't be in here.

"I...I can't...breathe." She sputtered out and began to cough violently, unaware that the older woman was now advancing towards her. "We...should..go."

"No, we are doing our duty to the crown by making sure there are no more lives lost." She scowled and forced Brea to stand up straight. "Now let's go." She turned her back and was already walking, when she heard the cracking of wood and a yelp.

"Julianna! Help me!" Brea shouted as she was struggling to hang on. The wood on the catwalk had weakened and she had fallen through a hole. In her field of vision, she saw Julianna's face appear above her, smirking. "Please. Please help me."

"Well, this is interesting." Julianna smiled coldly and placed her boot over one of the hands that struggled to hold on. "Pull yourself up, Goldenlake."

"I...I can't." She could feel tears stinging her cheeks. "Just pull me up."

"Let me think about that..." Julianna tapped her chin, her boot now covering Brea's hand. "Hm...you took away the man I loved. Now, you are marrying him and pregnant with his babies. I would have to say no. Pull yourself up or you are going to die." Turning around, she started down a staircase that would lead her to the bottom floor.

"Julianna! Please, help me!" Brea shouted as continued to struggle to pull herself up. She was almost there when a loud explosion spooked her and she lost her grip completely, plummeting back to the ground with a bloodcurdling scream. She rolled in a ball and hit the floor with a solid THUNK, passing out.

Julianna had heard Breanna scream and seconds later her body landed two feet in front of her, laying motionless, arms wrapped protectively around her stomach. Oh shit. Oh shit. She had honestly thought that Brea would be able to pull herself up.

"Brea. Brea." Julianna knelt and began to furiously shake her shoulder. "Wake up, damn you! Wake up!" She shrieked and began to search for a pulse. Nothing. "Please, wake up." She muttered, shaking her head as another explosion sounded. They had to get out of here, but nobody could know about this...no one. Grabbing Brea by the arms, she began to drag her out of the fort, but not through the front. She had to dispose of the body and claim that Brea was dead. Yes...yes, that would work. No one would know the difference. It only took her a few minutes to drag Brea into the woods, out of sight of everyone.

Brea groaned as Julianna lay her down on the forest floor and her eyes fluttered open for a brief second, staring up at the woman.

"I'm so sorry Brea, but this had to happen." She whispered and Brea's eyes fluttered close. Turning around, she made a dash out of the woods, trying to put behind her what she had just done. The only thing she worried about, was the babies...she hoped they hadn't been killed

----

Dom stood and burst through the front gate, followed closely by Neal and Kel. He searched around amid the flames and could barely make out a persons body, hunched over in a corner, motionless. He started towards the person.

"Brea!" He called and the person lifted their head and now he could make out straight red hair. Kneeling down, he took Julianna by the shoulders. "Where is Brea? Julianna look at me, where is she? Have you seen her?"

"I...I don't know. I don't know." She muttered, shaking her head. Dom groaned and picked her up, turning towards Neal and Kel.

"Get her out of here. I'm going to look for Brea." Neal took her by the arm and led the shaken Julianna out of the fort, but Kel hung back, apprehensive and biting her bottom lip. "Go, I will be fine." She nodded and started after her, but hung back at the gate. "Brea! Brea!" He shifted through boards, throwing them out of the way as he searched for his fiance. She just couldn't have disappeared like that. As Dom got ready to move another board, the mess hall burst into flames.

"Dom! You have to get out of there!" Kel shouted, waving him out. "Let's go!"

"No! Brea could still be here!" Dom shouted back, fiercely shaking his head as the sleeve of his shirt caught fire.

"Maybe she got out!"

"And maybe she is still here!"

"Domitan of Masbolle! Get over here, right now!" Kel shouted, and, seeing as his arm was in immense pain, he ran for the exit to meet Kel, who had to forcibly drag him away before the entire fort was swallowed up in flames.

"What if she was still in there, Kel?" Dom muttered, not wanting that to be true; he was oblivious that he was being forced to sit or that his sleeve was being ripped open so that Neal could examine the burn.

"I'm sure she got out just fine." Kel whispered, gripping his shoulder to tight, that led him to think that she didn't believe her owns words. "Brea...she is a smart girl, I'm sure she is fine."

"Gods Kel, I hope you're right." Dom whispered back, blinking back the tears in his eyes. One of his worst nightmares had come true all in a days work. Brea, was gone and more likely than not, she was dead.

----

That evening, the remaining soldiers and refugees that once called Haven their home, made camp right outside of the burnt down fort. The fire had long since burned down and they were just waiting until morning to start a search. Dom sat under a cover of trees, Mikol and Rebekah were just to the right of him, as sullen as he was.

Soon after dinner was over, which he didn't even touch and gave to a child that was complaining of hunger pains, he fell into a fitful sleep, with dreams about Brea that haunted him. She came to him, standing in flames, shock betrayal etched over her face that he didn't try more to save her. Others just showed her moving farther and farther away from him, the more he ran. As dawn approached, he finally drifted in a dreamless and semi-peaceful sleep. When as last, he awoke, the sun was high in the sky.

"Good to see you awake." Neal muttered as he came over to his cousin, handing him food.

"I could not sleep very well last night." Dom replied and turned, handing over his food to the child, who smiled and scampered back to his mother. "Not hungry," he explained to his cousins questioning look.

"Right..." Neal trailed off and went about replacing the bandages in silence. "While you slept, Kel sent in people to search the debris."

"And?" Dom tensed up, bracing himself for the news.

"I'm so sorry, Dom. There was no sign of her body." Neal focused all of his attention on Dom's burn, instead of looking up. "Kel even got in there and looked herself. We all did. There was nothing. Some of the other people are starting to think that there may be no remains."

"Stop saying that!" Dom roared and pushed Neal violently away from him, standing. "You don't know that! Brea could be alive and just waiting for us to find her! Stop speaking of her death!" Shooting a last deathly glare around to the people around him, he walked away into the woods.

Why couldn't they just try to be optimistic about the situation? Everyone was already condeming Brea to death when there was no body to be found at all. Well, damn them all. She wasn't dead...she couldn't be dead.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

**A/N: I'm guessing you all probably didn't like that ending. I'm very sorry, but it has been part of my ebil ebil plan all along. Now, before ya'll bring out the plans to come kill me, there is one more chapter following this one, along with a sequel I am planning. Sooooo, there you go, I promise, I will never abandon this story again.**

**-throws cookies and leaves- XD**


	14. Where is the happily ever after?

**A/N: Since I made ya'll wait so long for the last chapter, here is another one. This is it. The last chapter. It kind of closes everything up, but leaves it with a huuuuge cliffhanger. Enough of me talking, I'm sure ya'll are waiting. Here you are...**

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

_"There was no sign of her body. I'm so sorry Dom." _

The words rung neverending through Dom's head. How could no one seem to find Brea's body? Everyone had presumed her dead, because Julianna hadn't been able to find her after the run-in with bandits at the fort. Dom's blue eyes filled with tears as he stared at Brea's tomb, which was empty. This couldn't be true. Brushing the tears off his cheeks, he was suddenly struck with a thought.

If no one had been able to find her body, didn't that mean that she was still alive? Maybe she had wandered in the woods or something. Jumping to his feet, Dom laid a single orange rose by Brea's tomb, they had been her favorite, and then turned, walking quickly to reach the top levels. Once there, he went to the stables and ordered that his horse be saddled, then returned to his room.

Kel, Neal, Rebekah, and Mikol were in the sitting room. All of them had blood-shot eyes, looked beaten and downright tired. Signs that they hadn't slept in days, just like him.

"Where are you going?" Neal croaked, stroking Kel's hair.

"To find Brea." He muttered, starting towards his room. That got everybodys attention.

"Dom...she...she's dead." With that, Rebekah broke down and started crying again, Mikol was quick to comfort her. Once he was done chunking clothes and other items into saddle bags, he returned to the sitting room.

"Your going to believe the word of the woman that hated Brea?" He asked them quietly, a certain ferocity in his eyes and voice that frightened them. "Her tomb is empty, there was no sign of her body at the fort. Anything could have happened to her. She was probably injured and delirious and is wandering in the woods right now." He paused and stared at the carpet before continuing on. "I don't want to give up on her. I have to find her...whether it be dead or alive; I just have to do this, for myself. I don't expect any of you to understand that, but if you want to come, I won't fight the extra help." The room was quiet for several minutes after that.

"I'm coming with you." Kel said softly, wiping tears off her cheeks.

"Me too." Mikol echoed, standing up next.

"And me, can't go without Sir Meathead." Neal was now standing, an arm wrapped around Kel.

"I'll come too." Rebekah said, standing up next.

"Good. Pack some clothes, I already ordered your horses be saddled. Rebekah and Kel, I'm putting you in charge of getting food. Neal. Mikol. I want the two of you to gather anything else we will need. Maps and other things. I figured we would start back in the woods and go from there, because there has to be some sort of sign of where went from there." The assembled people nodded their heads and then turned, filing out of the room. "Gods be with us." He whispered and sighed, sitting down on a couch, face in his hands.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

Gabriel dismounted from his horse and glanced at the oddly shaped lump that was among the other things in the back of the cart. The lump was a girl he had found in the forest that seperated Tortall from the fief for which he was a soldier in the army. The girl he had found was unconcious and bore a rather large bump on the back of her head, along with visible bruises and scratches on her hands as if she had been holding tightly on to something.

"Gabriel, we told you not to come back here with anything else." Joked one of the other soldiers.

"Yes, well this is not an animal of any sort." Gabriel tugged the blanket back to reveal the girl, who had yet to wake up. She was a small thing with raven black hair that was matted with leaves and twigs, and "Found her in the woods. Unconcious."

"You might want to take your new find to the healers. She does not look so good."

"I know and that is just where I was headed." He gingerly lifted the girl from the back of his cart and started inside, carrying her as a groom would his bride. "Roberto!" He called as he reached the Healers Wing. There was movement heard and then the door opened.

"What can I help you with, Gabriel?" Roberto, who was the head Healer, asked as his eyes roamed over the unconcious girl in the young soldiers arms.

"I found her in the woods that seperate us from Tortall. Unconcious." Gabriel replied and was waved in, then led to a seperated room.

"Lay her on the bed." Roberto instructed and began pulling bandages from a cabinet, along with medicines. Sure he was a healer, but what was the point of wasting magic when simple cuts and bruises could be taken care of easily. "Gabriel, go and inform Lord Alexander about this. There is nothing more you can do for her."

"Yes sir." Gabriel replied and strode from the room, leaving Roberto with his patient.

"My dear, what happened to you?" He murmured, brushing hair away from her face and sending his magic flowing through her to check for any internal injuries. A few broken ribs, which he healed up nicely and an ugly bump on the back of her head, which surprisingly caused no head trauma. What surprised Roberto the most, was that the babies she was carrying, were still living. He expected whatever had caused the bump on her head would've killed them, but no, they were still alive and moving around. Once he finished his examination, he pulled his magic back to him. "Twins huh? Maybe when you wake up you will be able to tell us who you are and where you belong." He went about applying the bruise balm and bandaging the cuts on her hands.

Once Roberto was finished, the girls eyes fluttered open briefly to show him the brightest blue eyes he had ever seen. She moaned in obvious pain, tossing her head.

"Wh...who ar...are you?" The girl croaked, staring at Roberto through half-lidded eyes.

"My name is Roberto. Can you tell me what your name is?"

"My name?"

"Yes, young one, your name."

"I...I do not know my name..."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

**A/N: Soooo, this is the end of Only Time Can Heal Your Wounds. Now, don't panick, because as I told you at the end of the previous chapter there is a sequel coming up! This story will not go untouched.**

**Keep an eye out for my new story, the first chapter is coming up!**


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